MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Siltronic is discontinuing the production of smaller-diameter silicon wafers, which are now less in demand. The production of polished and epitaxial wafers with a diameter of 150 millimeters in Burghausen will be gradually discontinued, the company announced on Friday. The implementation, which excludes unpolished wafers, is to be completed in the course of 2025. Socially acceptable solutions such as partial retirement are to be found for the affected permanent employees. According to the information provided, around 400 people work in the division, around half of whom are on fixed-term and temporary contracts. By comparison, at the end of 2023, Wacker Chemie 's portfolio company employed a total of almost 4,500 people.

"Due to the structural changes in the market, we assume that there will be no recovery in SD wafers and that the earnings contribution over the next few years will be significantly negative," said CFO Claudia Schmitt according to the press release. After the end of SD wafer production, i.e. 150-millimeter wafers, and any necessary dismantling measures, the earnings margin before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) will improve by around one to two percentage points in the medium term.

Wafers are round silicon wafers that Siltronic's customers process into electronic and computer chips. "Just 25 years ago, more than half of the silicon wafer market consisted of wafers with a diameter of up to 150 mm; today this figure is less than five percent, based on the figures published by the industry organization Semi," Siltronic continued. Some customers reduced or stopped their production on the small wafers. In addition, competition, especially from China, is now clearly noticeable in the small diameters./mis/jha/