Tokuyama to build polysilicon plant in Malaysia

Tokuyama Corp said Thursday it plans to invest $500 million (50 billion yen) to build a polysilicon plant in Malaysia’s Sarawak state. The investment is the biggest that Malaysia has received so far this year from a Japanese company. The Sarawak factory will be Tokuyama’s second polysilicon plant, and its first overseas.‘‘The construction of a second manufacturing hub for polycrystalline silicon is urgent as demand for solar cells is increasing,’’ Tokuyama President Shigeaki Nakahara said at a press conference in the Malaysian capital. Polysilicon is used to produce solar cells and semiconductors. Tokuyama, the world’s second largest polysilicon maker, expects its new plant to produce 3,000 tons of the material annually by 2012.