Tokyo-based Tokuyama Corp. announced plans to build a new factory in Sarawak, Malaysia, to manufacture polycrystalline silicon for solar cells. Construction of the $675 million plant is scheduled to begin in early 2011, with operations expected to start by 2013. The plant, which will have an annual production capacity of 6,000 tons, will produce polycrystalline silicon for solar cells at the time of its startup. Tokuyama said the facility will employ about 300 people. The 2 million sq. km. site will be located in the Samalaju Industrial Park in Sarawak, which is 50 kilometers northeast of Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. Tokuyama expects demand for polycrystalline silicon for solar cells to grow in the medium - and longterm. To date, Tokuyama has manufactured and sold polycrystalline silicon mainly for semiconductors, and the Tokuyama factory in Yamaguchi, Japan, has been the company's only manufacturing base.
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