Wacker Chemie weighs closing Tennessee polysilicon plant

Wacker Chemie, a German chemical company, is considering the closure of its polysilicon manufacturing plant in Charleston, Tennessee. The facility, which employs approximately 600 workers, has lost its last two remaining customers following the implementation of new trade measures intended to protect the American semiconductor supply chain.

The trade policies, introduced under Section 232, impose a 15% tariff on most imported polysilicon and derivatives, alongside price floors of $21 per kilogram for polysilicon and $100 for ingots and wafers. While designed to reduce dependency on Chinese production, the measures have increased costs across the entire value chain. Because the tariffs and price floors apply to downstream products like ingots and wafers regardless of the polysilicon's origin, domestic producers have not seen a competitive advantage.

Wacker CEO Christian Hartel stated that the current measures “do not, as it reads now, effectively support the use of US-made polysilicon.” The company is expected to make a final decision regarding the plant's future in the coming weeks.