OCI inks $1 billion deal with U.S. solar company

OCI Holdings has secured a $1 billion supply contract to provide solar-grade polysilicon to U.S. solar panel manufacturer CubicPV, boosting its position as one of the few non-Chinese suppliers on the market. The contract runs from 2025 to 2033.

OCI Holdings Chairman Lee Woo-hyun, right, and CubicPV CEO Frank Van Mierlo shake hands during a long-term supply contract signing ceremony in Massachusetts on Monday. [OCI HOLDINGS]

OCI Holdings clinched a $1 billion supply contract from a U.S. solar panel manufacturer.

OCI Holdings, a chemical and solar power company, said Tuesday that its Malaysian subsidiary, OCIM, will supply polysilicon for solar panels to CubicPV from 2025 through 2033.

The long-term contract is valued at $1 billion. Massachusetts-based CubicPV plans to begin production of solar wafers at its upcoming plant in Texas, with OCIM's polysilicon, in 2025.

As the United States strives to wean itself off Chinese technology with its Inflation Reduction Act and Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), OCI is leveraging its position as one of the few non-Chinese suppliers of solar-grade polysilicon. With European countries pushing for measures similar to the UFLPA, OCI expects favorable market conditions to boost its global sales further.

OCI Holdings has a solar-grade polysilicon production plant in Sarawak, Malaysia, which the company acquired from Japan’s Tokuyama in 2017. The Sarawak plant has an annual production capacity of 35,000 tons, which is expected to expand to 65,000 tons by 2027.

As the plant is powered by hydroelectricity, OCIM’s polysilicon meets the RE100 — Renewable Electricity 100 — criteria, according to the company.

“With this long-term supply contract with OCIM, the leading global solar PV polysilicon producer, Cubic can be more focused on production in the United States,” said CubicPV CEO Frank Van Mierlo. “I am pleased to secure the supply [of] quality products of OCIM, which conform to U.S. import regulations.”

“With this large-scale supply contract with the major U.S. solar PV company Cubic, we reconfirmed the global market's need for OCIM's quality solar PV polysilicon,” said OCI Holdings Chairman Lee Woo-hyun.

OCI Holdings recently announced that it will establish a joint venture with Tokuyama to build an 11,000-ton manufacturing plant for electronic-grade polysilicon, which is used for semiconductor production, in Malaysia by 2026.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]