German chemical group Wacker Chemie AG announced at the end of September 2009 that it is withdrawing from its joint venture (JV) with local Schott Solar AG.
Wacker Chemie also said that the reason fo…
German chemical group Wacker Chemie AG announced at the end of September 2009 that it is withdrawing from its joint venture (JV) with local Schott Solar AG. Wacker Chemie also said that the reason for the move is its decision to focus its solar activities exclusively on its core competency: the production of hyperpure polycrystalline silicon. Wacker Chemie is expecting a one-time negative impact on its pre-tax profit for the current quarter of about EUR 50 million, along with as a debt increase of some EUR 65 million from its share in the JV. Both firms initially planned to invest a total of EUR 370 million in their JV – Wacker Schott Solar (WSS) by 2012, aiming at making it the world“s fifth largest producer of solar wafers. Unfortunately, due to the global crisis, and the growing low-cost competition from Asia, these plans were confounded.