Dow Corning, majority owner of major polysilicon producer, Hemlock Semiconductor, has posted a 12% increase in first-half year revenue and a net income up 20%, compared to the prior year period.

Group sales for the period were US$3.02 billion. Dow Corning does not break out sales for Hemlock Semiconductor but the company noted polysilicon customers continued to take shipments under contracts, although profits were impacted slightly by higher material costs.

Dow Corning’s executive vice president and chief financial officer J. Donald Sheets said: “In our polysilicon segment, Hemlock Semiconductor Group’s performance was a result of long-term contract customers continuing to take shipments of material for both semiconductor and solar grade polysilicon.”

Polysilicon spot prices have stabilised at over US$20/kg in 2014, enabling low-cost producers to return to profitability on the back of stronger demand.

Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical, the majority owner of Dow Cornin, said in a recent earnings call that “Dow Corning has gone through its major bump with polysilicon – that obviously was a mass of recalibration of their earnings capability. They’re doing the best in the polysilicon world because they are the low-cost producer. They don’t have the margins they used to have, so Hemlock is not doing as well as it did a few years ago.”