LDK Solar announces expansion plan of polysilicon subsidiary

XINYU CITY, CHINA & SUNNYVALE, USA: LDK Solar Co. Ltd, a leading vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products, announced that the City Government of Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, held a groundbreaking ceremony on November 1st, 2011 for a world class 30,000 metric tonnes per annum polysilicon manufacturing facility in its Jinsan Development Zone.

The facility is part of a plan to establish a renewable energy manufacturing hub in the Autonomous Region. Invited by the City Government of Hohhot, the facility will be built by LDK Silicon & Chemical Technology Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of LDK Solar that holds and operates LDK Solar's silicon materials business.

As of today, LDK Silicon has a total polysilicon production capacity of 17,000 MT per annum, combining both Mahong and Xiacun polysilicon plants in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province of China. With the completion of its ongoing debottlenecking and hydrochlorination projects in both the Mahong and Xiacun plants, as well as the "Line B" project in the Xiacun plant, the company expects to reach a total polysilicon production capacity of 25,000 MT per annum in mid-2012. With the anticipated production of this new facility, LDK Silicon expects to have a total polysilicon production capacity of 55,000 MT per annum by end of 2013 and become one of the largest and most competitive polysilicon manufacturers in the global market.

"The groundbreaking of our 30,000 MT per annum polysilicon plant in Hohhot City is a significant milestone for LDK Silicon and an important event for the PV industry," stated Goran Bye, president and CEO of LDK Silicon. "With access to the vastly available and competitively priced energy and other resources in Inner Mongolia, the new Hohhot facility will help to further lower the competitive manufacturing cost structure of LDK Silicon. Additionally, the facility will help address the expected strong growth in global demand for polysilicon in 2014 and beyond, and further strengthen the global leadership position of our parent, LDK Solar, in the PV industry."