Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ)

DAQO New Energy Corp., popularly known as DAQO, is a prominent high-purity polysilicon manufacturer headquartered in China. The company, established in 2007, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol DQ. DAQO's primary business activities revolve around the manufacturing and sale of high-purity polysilicon to photovoltaic product manufacturers. These manufacturers further process the polysilicon into ingots, wafers, cells, and modules for solar power solutions.

DAQO's revenue generation is primarily through the sale of high-purity polysilicon, a crucial component in the production of photovoltaic products such as solar panels. The company's primary product, high-purity polysilicon, is manufactured using the modified Siemens process, a mature and well-proven process technology extensively used in high-purity silicon feedstock production in the solar industry.

The manufacturing process at DAQO involves three distinct steps: TCS production, distillation, and deposition. The company's closed-loop manufacturing system enables efficient use of raw materials, reduces electricity consumption, and minimizes pollution. The first step, TCS production, involves the creation of Trichlorosilane from two widely available industrial raw materials: MG-Si (metallurgical-grade silicon) and liquid chlorine. DAQO generates TCS in-house through its integrated manufacturing process. The subsequent step, distillation, purifies raw TCS to produce high-purity TCS feedstock. The final step, deposition, involves the vaporization of the purified TCS, which is then mixed with hydrogen gas and fed into the deposition reactor. The mixed gas passes over heated silicon seed rods inside the deposition reactor, allowing for the deposition of high-purity silicon on the rods' surface.

DAQO's competitive advantages include its strategic location in western and northern China, where electricity and raw material costs are typically lower than in the coastal areas of China. The company's closed-loop manufacturing system also contributes to its competitiveness by efficiently using raw materials, reducing electricity consumption, and minimizing pollution. As a leading high-purity polysilicon manufacturer in China, DAQO has an annual production capacity of 205,000 MT. The company's high-purity polysilicon is used in the production of photovoltaic products, including solar panels. DAQO's customer base includes leading photovoltaic product manufacturers such as JinkoSolar, Shuangliang, and Gokin Solar.