Producer
REC Silicon
Norwegian polysilicon producer with US manufacturing history. Operates Butte, MT facility (FBR — Fluidized Bed Reactor polysilicon; 1,500 MT/yr granular polysilicon capacity). Previously operated Moses Lake, WA plant (18,000 MT/yr) which was idled in 2019 due to Chinese trade war tariffs blocking exports to China. Moses Lake restart discussions ongoing; DOE loan guarantees under consideration. REC Silicon is the primary non-Chinese Western polysilicon producer with US domestic capacity.
4
Inputs supplied
1
Goods downstream
4
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
4 inputs REC Silicon supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
chemical
Monosilane (SiH₄) — CVD Precursor →
chemical
Disilane (Si₂H₆) — Low-Temperature CVD →
manufactured
Electronic-Grade Polysilicon (11N, for Semiconductor Wafers) →
manufactured
Solar-Grade Polysilicon →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something REC Silicon makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
4 facilities
REC Silicon - Butte, Montana USA →
USWorlds largest silane gas (SiH4) facility; commissioned 1998; ~300 employees; primary global supply hub for semiconductor-grade silane; polysilicon line closed 2024 due to electricity costs but silane gas production maintained
REC Silicon - Moses Lake, Washington USA →
USPolysilicon facility restarted 2024; also silane production; ultra-high purity polysilicon for US solar and semiconductor value chain
REC Silicon -- Butte, Montana (Polysilicon) →
USButte, Silver Bow County, Montana, USA · chemical_plant
US polysilicon production facility (semiconductor and solar grade); has experienced extended periods of mothballing due to Chinese anti-dumping tariffs on US solar polysilicon exports affecting economics. REC Silicon also operates in Porsgrunn, Norway. FBR (fluidized bed reactor) technology gives different product form factor vs. Siemens CVD chunks used by Wacker/Hemlock. Montana facility uncertain status as of 2024-2025.
REC Silicon Butte Polysilicon Plant →
USButte, Montana · manufacturing
Produces ~1,500 MT/yr of FBR granular polysilicon for semiconductor and solar applications. Operating at limited capacity. The only continuously operating US polysilicon facility in 2024. REC's Moses Lake, WA plant (18,000 MT/yr) has been idle since 2019 after Chinese tariffs blocked exports; DOE loan guarantees for restart under consideration.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
FBR Polysilicon (Butte, MT)
70%Moses Lake Restart (Potential)
30%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Origin2023
REC Silicon was established as part of Renewable Energy Corporation (Norwegian listed) to supply polysilicon for the solar industry, using a Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) process that was more energy-efficient than the traditional Siemens process. REC built a major US facility in Moses Lake, Washington -- chosen for cheap Columbia River hydroelectric power -- with 18,000 MT/yr capacity, making it the largest polysilicon facility outside China. In 2018, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on US polysilicon (in response to US solar panel tariffs), effectively cutting off REC Silicon from its primary export market at a time when Chinese polysilicon demand was the only market large enough to absorb REC's output. REC Silicon idled the Moses Lake facility in 2019, laying off ~400 workers. The plant represents the most dramatic example of how a US industrial facility was directly destroyed by US-China trade policy -- the same tariff war that the US government said was protecting American industry idled the largest non-Chinese polysilicon factory in the world.
REC Silicon ASA ↗Incident2024
REC Silicon's Moses Lake, WA polysilicon plant (18,000 MT/yr capacity) has been idle since 2019 when Chinese antidumping tariffs shut off its primary export market. The plant was built to serve Chinese solar manufacturers. It is now a strategic asset sitting idle in the US: restarting it would add ~1.5% of global supply in a non-China, non-Xinjiang facility powered by Pacific Northwest hydroelectric. The key barrier is not technology — it is finding offtake customers willing to pay the cost premium vs. Chinese supply.
REC Silicon ASA ↗