Wacker reports further drop for polysilicon prices

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In the second quarter of 2017, Wacker Chemie AG was able to increase its turnover. Sales for the period reached €1.21 billion ($1.41 billion). This is up 2% from the same period a year earlier. The company said that this slight increase in revenue was the result of higher sales for silicone and polymer products.

Ebitda for the quarter was €253.4 million, down 4% from the second quarter of last year. The company, however, has raised its Ebitda forecast for this year and said it now expects a result between €900 million and €935 million, which corresponds to the EBITDA of the previous year adjusted for special in-come. Wacker specified it had previously expected adjusted EBITDA to decline by a mid-single-digit percentage.

The polysilicon business of Wacker Chemie achieved a turnover of €246.7 million. It is a 9% decline compared to the previous year and 8% up from the previous quarter. Lower silicon prices were the main reason, the company said, as the volume of sales rose appreciably. The Division's EBITDA reached  €71.3 million, a decrease of 8% compared to the same period of the previous year, but slightly higher than in the previous quarter.

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“Alongside lower polysilicon prices,” Wacker stated, “the division’s Ebitda was influenced not only by last year’s special income from advance payments retained and damages received from solar-sector customers, but also by cost developments, including the start-up of the Charleston site, and by product-mix effects. Compared with the preceding quarter, the division made up for the decline in polysilicon prices by achieving cost reductions with the help of productivity-enhancing measures and technical improvements.”

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