Japanese chemical producer Tokuyama has inaugurated a polysilicon factory in Vietnam. 

Plans for the factory were first announced in 2024. Located within the Phu My 3 Special Industrial Park in Ho Chi Minh City, the facility will manufacture and distribute polysilicon for semiconductors.

“With the semiconductor market expected to expand further, we aim to ensure a stable supply of silicon wafer raw materials used in advanced semiconductors and strengthen the supply chain, and [the facility] will be an important overseas base responsible for the crushing and cleaning of polycrystalline silicon,” a statement on the company’s website explains.

The company adds that the facility will proceed with trial operators and quality checks with safety as its top priority. Total capital invested into the project reached VND 580 billion ($22.2 million).

Tokuyama says the factory is Vietnam’s first in the manufacture and distributor of polycrystalline silicon for semiconductors. While the company has not disclosed the capacity of the facility, local press has reported it will have an annual production capacity of 4,995 MT of polysilicon.

Last year, Tokuyama began building a 10,000 MT polysilicon factory in Malaysia in partnership with South Korea-based polysilicon producer OCI.

OCIM Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian unit of OCI, is currently operating a 35,000 MT polysilicon factory in the Samalaju Industrial Park in Sarawak, Malaysia, which it bought from Tokuyama in 2016.