Germany-based Soitec Solar to shut down production at Freiburg site - report

Aug 1, 2013 - Germany-based silicon-on-insulator wafers maker Soitec (EPA:SOI), which is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, has decided to stop production of special solar cells at its Freiburg site, German Badische Zeitung reported yesterday.

In a drive to get closer to its customers and cut costs, the company has decided to transfer these activities to its San Diego plant in the US state of California, which was brought to operation in December 2012.

The move will affect around one-third of the 200 jobs in Freiburg, the paper said. Soitec employs a total of 1,500 workers overall.

However, activities connected to sales, research and the design and maintenance of solar power plants will remain in Freiburg.

Negotiations with trade union IG Metal on a social plan will be launched soon.

Soitec Solar was established as a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Institut fuer Solare Energiesysteme (ISE) in 2005 under the name Concentrix, but was acquired by French Soitec for EUR 36 million (USD 47.7m) in 2009.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.325)

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