local time, Wacker Chemie, a German polysilicon producer, released its operating data for the first quarter of 2026. In the
first quarter of this year, Wacker Chemical's sales were 1.41 billion euros , down 5% year-on-year, up 12% year-on-year, and its net profit was 15 million euros ; Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were 173 million euros, higher than same period last year and the previous quarter, due to cost savings and early delivery of some orders due to the conflict in the Middle East.
It is noteworthy that Wacker Chemical said that the decline in photovoltaic polysilicon business in the first quarter of this year led to a decline in sales of polysilicon business. Sales in the business fell 8% to 226 million euros in the first quarter from a year earlier; EBITDA was 23 million euros , down 4.17% year on year.
For the full year 2026 forecast, Wacker Chemie said EBITDA is still expected to be between 550 million euros and 700 million euros. For the annual sales forecast, the company has raised from the previous low single-digit growth range (about 1% -3%) to the high single-digit growth range (about 7% -9%), mainly due to the rising prices of raw materials and energy caused by the Middle East conflict and the transmission to customers, but the exchange rate factor will bring some drag.
At the same time, the situation in the Middle East and the trade policy related to polysilicon in the United States still make the performance prospects highly uncertain.
In this quarterly report, Christian Hartel, CEO of Wacker Chemical, disclosed the current progress of the company's PACE plan: "At present, negotiations on layoffs in Germany are under way with employee representatives."
At the same time, Hartel said: "Significant savings from the program will begin to show up this fiscal year." In October
2025, Wacker Chemical launched the "PACE Plan" with the goal of saving more than 300 million euros annually. As part of the cost reduction plan, the company will cut more than 1500 jobs worldwide , most of which will be concentrated in Germany . The layoffs will start in the first quarter of 2026 and be completed by the end of 2027.
According to Wacker Chemical's official website, the company has six production bases in Germany, including two polysilicon production bases , Burghausen and N Nünchritz. Among them, Burghausen is WACKER's largest integrated production base and one of the core bases of the company's polysilicon business; N Nünchritz is the company's second largest multi-functional production base and a key base for polysilicon production.
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