Leading FBR polysilicon producer, REC Silicon ASA was impacted by a planned outage at its Silane IV production plant with the need to undertake further maintenance and safety checks in the first quarter of 2014.

As a result, REC Silicon’s polysilicon production decreased by 23% to 3,979MT in the first quarter if 2014. The knock-on affects was the FBR cash production cost increasing to US$13.6/kg, compared to US$10.5/kg in the previous quarter, though lower production was offset by lower spending.

REC Silicon reported polysilicon sales down 17% to 4,135MT, due to the lower production having been running a full capacity previously.

However, solar grade polysilicon demand continued to strengthen, despite being a traditionally weaker quarter with ASPs rising more than 10% in the quarter.

The company reported first quarter 2014 revenues of US$113.4 million, with an EBITDA of US$19.5 million. Net debt was reduced to US$212 million, down from US$307 million at the end of 2013.

Silicon gas sales volumes were driven by a combination of improved PV, TFT, and Semiconductor demand and by competitive capacity being currently offline, according to the company.

Yulin Joint Venture update

REC Silicon noted that it had received US$99 million during the first quarter from

Shaanxi Non-Ferrous Tian Hong New Energy Co., Ltd, as part of a recent deal to build and operate a next-generation FBR polysilicon plant in China.

The company said that detailed engineering design work should be completed during the third quarter 2014.

Production guidance

REC Silicon said that it was targeting polysilicon production in the second quarter of 2014 to be around 4,350MT. During the second quarter the company will undergo further maintenance for Silane III based on findings at Silane IV.

As a result of the expected increase in polysilicon production, FBR cash production costs is expected to decrease to US$13.4/kg.