MEMC amends contract with another solar wafer customer

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. has amended its 10-year supply agreement with Gintech Energy Corp. of Taiwan. The amended contract increases the supply and reduces the price of solar wafers from MEMC to Gintech for 2009, MEMC said Tuesday.

This is similar to a contract amendment that MEMC announced last week with another solar wafer customer, Suntech Power Holdings Ltd.

O’Fallon, Mo.-based MEMC makes polysilicon, a raw material used in wafers for semiconductor and solar uses. It also makes semiconductor wafers, which are used in electronics, and sells solar wafers that are used in solar cells.

It’s unclear how much the 2009 volume and price changed in the Gintech deal. But the amendments won’t change the total revenue for the year or throughout the rest of the contract, the company said.

MEMC signed the supply agreement with Gintech in October 2006. At the time, MEMC said the contract was worth between $2.5 billion and $3 billion in sales.