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[October 2009]
Gengsheng Minerals Gets Subsidy for Development of Fine Precision Abrasives for Solar Industry
China Gengsheng Minerals Inc (Gongyi, Henan Province, China) has received US$337,000 (RMB 2.3 million) from the Henan Provincial Government in subsidy for the development and commercialisation of Gengsheng's new product line of fine precision abrasives.
These abrasives are ultra-fine grains of silicon carbide, white fused alumina and blend materials used in the cutting and polishing of optical equipment, semiconductors and fine metal surfaces to improve finish quality. Gengsheng uses its patented technology to focus on producing lapping abrasives and polishing compounds for the processing of silicon wafers among Chinese solar cell manufacturers, who at the moment import such abrasive products from Japan and France. To compete successfully with import materials, Gengsheng will secure sources of raw materials in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to achieve low-cost advantage, along with its own proprietary technology to improve manufacturing efficiency.
Gengsheng's abrasive production facilities, which are located in Gongyi City, Henan Province, have an annual capacity of 20,000 tons.
"Our solar industry-targeted abrasives have now been officially recognized as a high and new technology industrial product by the Henan Provincial Government and will continue to receive government support including further subsidies and low-interest loans," said Mr Shunqing Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Gengsheng. "With crude oil prices climbing back from depressed levels and the Chinese government's strong solar stimulus, awarding about 10GW of PV projects worth more than $20 billion in July and August of this year alone, we are confident that the market for our ingot-slicing and panel-polishing abrasives is poised for robust growth in the near future, with our government mandating 10GW of installed solar power by the year 2020, from under 100MW of total installed solar power capacity at the end of 2008."
Gengsheng last year signed its first sales contract for the abrasives with a Taiwan-based customer. The term of the contract is five years, with 300-500 tons of the product delivered each month. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
ENDS