Germany's last remaining silicon metal producer faces bankruptcy threat

Germany's only remaining silicon metal producer, Rottwerk (RW Silicium GmbH), is facing the threat of closing the plant at the end of March 2024. Heinz Schimmelbusch, head of the company's parent company AMG Mining GmbH, revealed this in an interview with Handelsblatt.

The reason is that industrial electricity prices in Germany remain high. "Electricity prices at current levels are fatal for the production of silicon metal." The company, which employs 120 people, has had to significantly reduce production. Only one of the four internal combustion engines is running. More than half of production costs are spent on electricity.

Stephan Bauer, general manager of RW Silicium Co., Ltd., believes that Germany is the largest consumer of silicon in Europe and almost all of it needs to be imported. The metallic silicon produced by RW Silicium Co., Ltd. accounts for about 10% of Germany's consumption.

If RW Silicium Ltd. stops production, Germany will have to rely 100% on imports and Germany will lose the chance to compete with other countries - at least when it comes to silicon. According to data, global silicon metal production in 2021 will be 3.82 million tons. Among them, 2.91 million tons (76%) came from China. The remaining 910,000 tons (24%) come from the Western world, mainly Brazil (5%), North America (4%) and Norway (3%). In other words, China's silicon production is by far the largest in the world. With the (possible) closure of RW Silicium Ltd., approximately 4% of Western production will be lost..For more information on ferroalloy price trends and market conditions, please contact Hainan West Asia Group.