Hoku just announced an amendment to its polysilicon agreement with Tianwei New Energy Wafer Co Ltd. The amendment relieves Hoku of its upcoming shipping obligations in exchange for an 8 percent reduction in the price of the polysilicon.

Instead of paying Hoku $511 million over the 10-year contract period, Tianwei will only pay $468 million. In addition, Hoku will receive a $5 million payment upfront. Hoku is having some trouble getting financing to finish its polysilicon plant, and failing to make the shipments to Tianwei before 2010 would have resulted in a penalty against Hoku if the deal had not been renegotiated.

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