China's polysilicon giants set up acquisition firm to tackle oversupply

By Colleen Howe

BEIJING, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Chinese polysilicon makers have set up an acquisition company to help restructure an industry plagued by oversupply, local media reported on Wednesday, although it was unclear if the firm has concrete plans to buy and shut excess capacity.

The company, Beijing Guanghe Qiancheng Technology, was registered in Beijing on December 9 with 3 billion yuan ($424.7 million) in registered assets and backed by 10 shareholders, according to business registration platform Qichacha.

The securities department of the largest shareholder, Tongwei 600438.SS, told 21st Century Herald that the newly registered company is for industry firms to "explore potential strategic cooperation opportunities, such as market expansion, production capacity optimisation and cost optimisation."

Tongwei Solar Technology (Emeishan) owns 30.35% of Guanghe Qiancheng. The firm belongs to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tongwei 600438.SS, China's top polysilicon producer, which declined to comment. The other shareholders did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Polysilicon is a key building block for solar panels.

Beijing has been seeking to curb excess capacity in solar manufacturing, part of a wider campaign to rein in cutthroat competition across industries, known as anti-involution.

Number-two shareholder GCL Technology 3800.HK had said in July that industry leaders were targeting a 50 billion yuan fund, with plans under discussion to acquire and shut at least 1 million metric tons of lower-quality polysilicon capacity through an OPEC-like grouping.

Analysts say any plan to shut capacity may struggle to secure funding and could face pushback from local governments.

The other shareholders were linked to listed firms Xinte Energy 1799.HK and CSG Holding 000012.SZ, as well as private companies Shanghai Oriental Hope New Energy, Asia Silicon Qinghai - owned by Hongshi Holding Group - a subsidiary of Astronergy, and an entity controlled by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association.

(Reporting by Colleen Howe, Editing by Louise Heavens)

((colleen.howe@thomsonreuters.com;))