South Korea’s OCI Holdings is moving into solar wafer production with a majority stake in a Vietnamese facility, a calculated bet on navigating Washington’s tightening restrictions on Chinese-linked solar components.
The chemical producer disclosed that its subsidiary OCI TerraSus acquired a 65% stake in a 2.7-gigawatt wafer plant under construction by Elite Solar Power Wafer for ₩110 billion ($78 million), part of a total project valued at ₩170 billion ($120 million). The facility is scheduled to finish construction by month-end and begin commercial production in early 2026.
The timing aligns with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted in July, which restricts tax credits for solar projects using components from “prohibited foreign entities” — primarily targeting Chinese suppliers that dominate global manufacturing. The Vietnamese wafers will qualify as Non-PFE products, allowing them to bypass US import restrictions.
OCI can double the plant’s capacity to 5.4 gigawatts within six months for an additional ₩56 billion ($40 million), though the company hasn’t committed to the expansion. The operation will run entirely on polysilicon from OCI’s Malaysian facilities, creating a vertically integrated supply chain.
The company is already constructing a $265 million solar cell plant in Texas through its Mission Solar subsidiary, expected to begin production in the first half of 2026, positioning it to supply the full production chain from polysilicon to finished cells for the American market.
