The siliceous path of rice husks

One of the strategic tasks undertaken by Kazakhstan is the development of alternative energy, including solar. It requires silicon. Currently, two silicon plants are already operating in Kazakhstan, and two more may appear in the future, with one of them making silicon from rice husks. K talked with Abdurasul Zharmenov, General Director of the National Center for Integrated Processing of Mineral Raw Materials, about competition between enterprises, as well as about the quantity, quality, and price of Kazakhstani silicon.

– To date, two metallurgical silicon plants have been launched in Kazakhstan – Silicon Kazakhstan (Karaganda) and Kazsilicon (Ushtobe, part of Kazatomprom). How are things going at these plants?

– As far as I know, the situation at both enterprises is not bad, both of them are working. It is more favorable at the Karaganda plant, since ThyssenKrupp buys the entire volume from them: they have signed an agreement for exclusive rights to purchase products. They were able to reduce the cost of their silicon – by the way, by using a new reducing agent developed by us instead of traditional charcoal. Another thing is that the quality of their products does not yet meet the requirements of customers. Accordingly, they cannot sell it at the price they want. The situation at the Ushtobinsk plant is more complicated. They have a higher cost of production than Silicon Kazakhstan due to the higher cost of electricity (60-70% of the cost - "K").

– How high is their cost price now compared to other manufacturers?

– The cost of silicon in Aktobe ranges from 5-7 euros per 1 kg. And this would be acceptable if the market prices were, as before, about 10 euros per 1 kg. But now they have fallen, so the cost price in Aktobe turned out to be higher than the commodity price – 4-6 euros per 1 kg. Therefore, they have problems with implementation. To be effective, they must achieve a reduction to 4-5 euros per 1 kg. We have signed a contract with them to carry out cost reduction work. Now they are taking readings of the furnace operation, and after the start of payment, we will start improving the technology, and they will be able to see the difference.

– It is assumed that Kazsilicon's products will be refined by a plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk. But it's not finished yet. As well as the silicon wafer factory in Astana. In other words, the production cycle is currently incomplete. How is the product marketing going now? Is it shipped to a warehouse or supplied to third parties (there was information that it was shipped to Europe and Japan)?

– They launched industrial smelting quite recently, they did not work out the quality and simply did not build up a pool of buyers. Simply because the Ushtobinsk plant had nothing to show them yet. Sales in the industrial sector never start immediately, they are built up within six months. By the way, the mistake of many enterprises is that they do not include in their business plans the lack of sales in the first months after the launch of production. Plus time to explore the market, to introduce customers to the products. Wait a while, and I think they will be able to find their buyers.

– But won't Kazatomprom buy back the entire volume of their products?

– No, 1 thousand tons per year is enough for the production of solar panels, everything else will be sold to third parties. They will have to conquer the market anyway.

– Well, we've dealt with two existing enterprises. But Parasat Holding is going to build another silicon plant in Ekibastuz as part of the Silicon Alatau project. Won't there be too many silicon industries in Kazakhstan, including those focused on creating "solar" quality silicon? Despite the fact that experts are already talking about the redundancy of their construction?

– As far as I know, this plant is currently at the design stage. But if they had brought this project to me for examination, I would have given it a negative assessment. It is precisely because of the oversupply of "solar" silicon on the market around the world and, above all, in neighboring China.

– Isn't it possible that our silicon will be more expensive than Chinese?

– Yes, but cheaper than the European one. In Europe, electricity is much more expensive – up to 20 cents per kWh versus our 7-8 cents per kWh. It's difficult to compete with China, they have a different scale. Another thing is that our center, for example, has developed a technology for the production of "solar" quality silicon from rice husks. We want to set up our own production. The raw materials are practically free: in Kazakhstan, we have enough husks to produce 5,000 tons of silicon. The purity of the product is at least 99.99%, we get it from waste, we do not need coke, so it costs 1.5–2 euros per 1 kg, like a technical product.

– And where will you supply your "rice" silicon?

– We will give it to Kazatomprom.

– It turns out that Kazatomprom will have two sources of "solar" silicon. And one is from the "daughter", and the second is from you.

– Kazatomprom is also involved in our production: we sold them 50% of our patent.

– But if your silicon is cheaper and better, then what is the point of Kazsilicon's work?

– Don't get me wrong, I'm more interested in manufacturing using the technology we've developed. It is even possible that Kazsilicon will work with raw materials from rice husks.

– Interesting. By the way, according to media reports, a second furnace is currently being heated at Silicon Kazakhstan in order to double the production of metallurgical silicon (up to 25,000 tons per year)...

– ThyssenKrupp owns 16% of shares in the Karaganda enterprise. I am sure that we would not have increased production without their approval. In addition, they produce not "solar", but metallurgical silicon with a lower degree of purification. Its main field of application is metallurgy and various alloys. The German company has its own trading house with established connections around the world, so it is easier for Karaganda residents to sell their products through them.

– But isn't it possible that Kazakhstan, by setting up processing plants, produces products of the nearest conversion – in fact, it only melts semi-finished silicon from ore, and then sells it to third parties? At least until the production chain for the manufacture of solar panels is operational?

– Yes, but no one prevents us from organizing the production of finished products from alloys containing metallurgical silicon on the territory of Kazakhstan.

– For example?

– Please, here is the closest one. Look at the window: these frames are made of aluminum-silicon alloy. We have launched Aluminum of Kazakhstan. You can buy aluminum from them, silicon from Ushtobe and produce these frames. This is a global practice. The aluminum plant is located next to the silicon one and makes household products.

– Yes, but Ushtobe is in the south of Kazakhstan, and Aluminum of Kazakhstan is in the north...

– For metals with such a price level, the cost of transportation from the south to the north of Kazakhstan or vice versa is uncritical. Moreover, the production of frames and other alloys may well take both 15 and 20 thousand tons per year. It is a misconception that silicon is used only for solar panels, 95% of silicon has always been used for metallurgical production.

– Has the idea of manufacturing finished alloy products in Kazakhstan been discussed somewhere?

– As far as I know, no. Now we need to complete production.

– Who do you think will take the initiative to create it – again, the authorities who lobby for innovative technologies, or a business that can make money from it?

– I think it's business. I am sure that if you correctly calculate the economics of the project, it will be profitable and in demand.

Source: www.kursiv.kz