Silicon Chemical’s subsidiary, Sapphire Materials Company (SMC) has completed the phase I construction of its new sapphire manufacturing unit. In 2010, SCC purchased the Saint Gobain / Union Carbide sapphire crystal growing plant in Washougal, Washington.
The company has conducted a study on the process, design, upgrade and reconstruction of the facility for sapphire production on a large-scale. SMC will fabricate sapphire products and produce industrial sapphire crystals in the low cost renovated facility. The facility uses advanced technology processing for high volume production.
The company also announced that the phase II development is ongoing and it will be completed in September 2011. Once the construction is completed, SMC will initially manufacture sapphire materials for the LED industry and first delivery of the products will start in November 2011. The business model of SMC will enable the industry’s lowest cost sapphire production with high product quality and reliability.
SMC’s new manufacturing unit will be installed with its innovative in-house methodologies and also with a wide range of crystal growing equipment and technologies from external suppliers. The company plans to increase production capacity to more than 100,000 KG by the fourth quarter of 2012. SCC offers silicon process equipment, technology and services for the solar and electronic sectors.