Wacker Gears Up Polysilicon Plant

Wacker Chemie is going back to a full-time work schedule at its Burghausen, Germany, polysilicon plant in response to stronger-than-expected demand from the solar sector. The plant had been running at two-thirds capacity since October. At that time, the company also said it would delay opening a new polysilicon plant in Tennessee by 18 months. Last month, Dow Corning announced it would lay off 100 workers at its majority-owned polysilicon plant in Hemlock, Mich., and postpone a new plant in Tennessee. Wacker says output at the Burghausen plant couldn’t keep up with orders it received in the past few weeks.