German chemicals producer and polysilicon manufacturer Wacker Chemie's polysilicon business division is likely to report 49% annual growth in sales at €2.28 billion in 2022 thanks to 'particularly' good prices for solar-grade silicon and high semiconductor volumes, according to the company's preliminary financial results for last year.
This business division contributed to the group sales of €8.2 billion. At the group level, its EBITDA was over €2.08 billion which came down by around €1.3 billion YoY due to high electricity prices along with raw-material and logistics costs. Polysilicon contributed 25% higher EBITDA with €820 million.
In Q4/2022, Wacker's polysilicon business generated €570 million in sales and €190 million in EBITDA, preliminary estimates show. Final audited financials will be released by the management on March 14, 2023.
Wacker CEO Christian Hartel said the company was able to offset sharp cost increases, especially for energy, but also for raw materials and logistics despite demand slowing down in some customer sectors.
However, on a generate note, he shared at weakening economy affecting customer order trends as inventory drawdowns in Q4/2022 by some customers impacted its group sales and earnings. Demand is likely to pick up during the course of the year post the Chinese New Year holiday, but it will depend on the trend in COVID infections.
Global polysilicon supply being tight last year, led to high prices in the face of growing demand for this raw material. Going forward, as demand for polysilicon with European roots grows to contribute to a local industrial ecosystem for PV, and the US seeking non-Chinese supply of this raw material, suppliers like Wacker will be targeting to grow its clout in these markets.
Representing the larger European solar PV community, recently Wacker joined other stakeholders to demand urgent political action to revitalize sustainable European solar PV manufacturing, seeking public support for €0.10/W to €0.15/W of produced PV over the next 10 years (see European Solar PV Community Demands Political Action).