As the New York listing of U.S. aerospace company SpaceX draws near, OCI Holdings is gaining attention. OCI Holdings is the only one among Korea's corporations that produces solar-grade polysilicon in Malaysia, and there is an outlook that it will supply solar products for space data centers to SpaceX in the future.
According to Bloomberg on the 4th local time, SpaceX will finalize its offering price on the 11th and begin trading on the Nasdaq on the 12th.
If SpaceX lists as planned, its market capitalization is expected to reach $1.77 trillion. That would rank seventh by market cap in the U.S. stock market after Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft (MS), Amazon and Broadcom.
Among Korea's corporations, there is an outlook that OCI Holdings will expand orders following SpaceX's listing.
SpaceX plans to build a large number of space data centers in Earth orbit equipped with solar panels and GPUs (graphics processing units). To that end, it has set a goal of launching 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar installations into space each year. As a result, OCI Holdings, which makes the polysilicon used in solar installations, has come into the spotlight.
SpaceX also said that while building solar facilities for space data centers, it would not accept solar-related products from China. The U.S. government regulates the inclusion of Chinese-made products in the space solar supply chain.
Launch vehicles, satellites and on-orbit AI computing equipment for space solar are subject to strict controls by the U.S. Department of State's ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations), the U.S. Department of Commerce's EAR (Export Administration Regulations) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury's OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control). ITAR legally blocks the involvement of personnel, technology and critical parts from embargoed countries such as China and Russia in U.S. space and defense technology.
Accordingly, demand for non-Chinese polysilicon, such as that from OCI Holdings, could increase. OCI Holdings said it will expand its polysilicon production capacity going forward. Chairman Lee Woo-hyun said during the first-quarter earnings conference call in April that "unexpected demand has arisen, so the expansion scale for solar-grade polysilicon has been changed from the original plan," adding, "by 2028, production capacity will increase to nearly double the current level."
An OCI Holdings official said, "The scale of the polysilicon expansion is expected to be finalized within the second quarter." Financial markets expect OCI Holdings' annual polysilicon production capacity to expand from the current 35,000 tons to 65,000 tons.
The polysilicon produced by OCI Holdings is also highly price-competitive among non-Chinese products. Based on hydropower in Malaysia, OCI Holdings has the lowest variable cost (the cost that increases or decreases in proportion to output when producing 1 kg of polysilicon) among non-Chinese companies. OCI Holdings' polysilicon variable cost is $12 per kg. Competing products from Germany's Wacker cost $16 per kg, and those from U.S. company Hemlock cost $20 per kg.
Yoon Jae-sung, a researcher at Hana Securities, said, "Considering price competitiveness, OCI Holdings is highly likely to be selected as a priority supplier over Wacker and Hemlock," adding, "If OCI Holdings finalizes a long-term supply contract with SpaceX, it will deliver 70%–80% of its polysilicon output to solar facilities for space data centers."