Solar panel firm closing Ipoh plant, axing 650 staff

Source:
TRP

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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5, 2015:

Amid the global slump in solar panel prices, due to governments cutting back on subsidies to promote renewable energy generation, SunEdison Semiconductor yesterday said it is closing its Ipoh plant.

In a statement issued in the US, SunEdison said its Malaysian plant, which produces 200mm semiconductor wafers, will be closed as the company consolidates its manufacturing footprint away from Asia.

Production capacity will be relocated to the company’s other remaining seven plant sites, including in Novara, Italy, said SunEdison.

The relocation is to be completed by the end of next year and will see 650 employees being laid off with severance pay.

SunEdison said total relocation expenses will cost around US$65 million (RM250.7 million), inclusive of up to US$6 million in staff retrenchment payouts.

Further details of this Malaysian plant closure will be revealed during its results announcement tomorrow, said SunEdison.

The former unit of chemical giant Monsanto, which became a pioneer in silicon wafer manufacturing, opened the Malaysian plant at Sunway in 1970 and the Ipoh plant in 2008. No mention was made on the fate of the Sunway plant in the SunEdison statement.

Just last year, SunEdison completed a 19 MW solar power installation at KLIA.- The Rakyat Post,5/8/2015