Wacker celebrates its 30th anniversary in China

Addressing the guests, president and Wacker CEO Christian Hartel (pictured) emphasised the importance of the region. “China is the world’s largest chemical market and an important growth driver for the global economy. The country offers a wide range of development opportunities which we at Wacker intend to leverage continuously.”

In May, Wacker ramped up new production facilities for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders in Nanjing. In September, the Group also announced the expansion of several new production lines for manufacturing functional silicone fluids, silicone emulsions and silicone elastomer gels at its Zhangjiagang site. “This is our largest single investment since the site went into operation”, Hartel said. “Over the past 30 years, we invested nearly €1bn in production, in customer and technical service and in research in China.” Today, Wacker China has over 1,700 employees and operates a total of four production sites, three technical centres, eight sales offices and a Wacker Academy for training purposes.

Alvin Hu, President of Wacker China, briefly reviewed the company’s 30 year journey in China. “Our track record is impressive: equipped with a comprehensive network of integrated production sites, four joint ventures, R&D and technical service centres as well as several sales offices, we are well positioned strategically, especially with a view to key growth topics.” As an example, Hu referred to the burgeoning electrification of vehicles in China. “This will benefit our silicone business, as Wacker’s high performance silicones are essential for the development and production of electric vehicles.”