Germany: Business Expansion Wacker to Invest 114 Million Dollars for Capacity Expansion of Silicone Rubber

The company aims at increasing silicone rubber production by a total of 40,000 metric tonnes annually by 2021. The move has been undertaken to meet the region’s rising demand in vital industries as well as to further expand its portfolio.

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Munich/Germany – The Munich-based chemical group Wacker is increasing its global production capacities for silicone rubber. With expansion measures at several sites, the company plans to gradually raise its capacities by a total of 40,000 metric tonnes per year by 2021. Approximately 114 million dollars have been earmarked for this capacity expansion. With these measures, the firm is responding to the high demand for silicone rubber in key sectors such as the automotive, electronics and medical industries. These investments are part of the Wacker Silicones division’s strategy of further expanding its portfolio of specialties.

With capacity expansions in the midstream production steps and downstream production, the company will significantly improve the silicone-rubber availability and related service for its customers in the near future. All solid silicone rubber product groups will benefit from these expansion measures. In April of this year, Wacker already brought a new production site for silicone sealants and thermally conductive silicone compounds on stream in Jincheon, South Korea. The production of room-temperature-vulcanising silicone elastomers and liquid silicone rubbers has also started in Amtala, India, where the firm manufactures silicones in a joint venture with Metroark.

For 2019, the chemical group is planning further capacity enhancements for liquid silicone rubber, high- and room-temperature-vulcanising silicones and thermally conductive silicone compounds at its production sites in Burghausen (Germany), Adrian (Michigan, USA) and Zhangjiagang (China). The company is currently also evaluating the option of building a plant for solid silicone rubber at its US-based site in Charleston, Tennessee. Wacker has been producing polysilicon there since 2016. A plant for manufacturing pyrogenic silica, an important filler for high consistency silicone rubber (HCR), will come on stream at this site next year.

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