MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker Chemie AG is building a new pilot reactor for testing vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE) dispersions at its site in Nanjing, said the producer on its site.
This will help WACKER to strengthen its local research and development capabilities in Greater China. Thus, WACKER is increasing its local expertise in product development, applications support and customer service, thereby serving the growing markets for high-quality VAE binders in China and Asia. Investment for the pilot reactor amounts to some EUR2.4 million. Scheduled for completion in the second half of 2016, the facility will help WACKER to solidify its position as one of the world’s leading suppliers of VAE dispersions.
“Our new test facility at Nanjing is another strategic milestone toward optimally satisfying our customers’ growing demand for high-quality polymer products”, explained Rudolf Staudigl, CEO of Wacker Chemie AG. The company is continually investing in its global facilities to augment and refine its local expertise, applications technology and customer service. “The pilot reactor will enable us to design – together with our customers – first-class locally manufactured products and solutions, and adapt them to specific local requirements. This new facility further solidifies WACKER’s role as a leading technology partner to numerous key industries and illustrates our long-term commitment to China”, Staudigl said.
The pilot reactor will serve as a test facility for tailor-made VAE dispersions, for instance for China’s construction, coatings and adhesives sectors. New products are tested in close collaboration with WACKER’s technical center in Shanghai, taking into account local climatic conditions, building techniques and raw materials. WACKER is thus responding to the rising demand for high-quality VAE binders in China and Asia. WACKER’s dispersions, marketed under the VINNAPAS brand, find application, for instance, in the formulation of low-odor and low-emission indoor paints, but also in plasters, adhesives, carpet applications or technical textiles.
Having operated its own subsidiary in Greater China for more than 20 years now, WACKER has greatly expanded its activities in the region over recent years. The Group maintains not only eight sales offices in all key economic regions, but also two technical centers and three production sites. WACKER produces silicones and polymers in Zhangjiagang and Nanjing, both situated in Jiangsu province. These plants are the largest of their kind in China. In 2014, WACKER generated sales of over EUR1.2 billion in the Greater China region, including Taiwan.
As MRC reported earlier, in 2013, Wacker Chemie AG officially launched its new production plant for ethylene-vinyl-acetate copolymer (EVA) dispersions at its Ulsan site in South Korea. The additional 40,000 tonnes from the second reactor line increases the site's EVA-dispersion capacity to a total of 90,000 tonnes per year. The production capacity of the site has, thus, almost doubled, making the plant complex one of the biggest of its kind in South Korea.
Wacker Chemie AG is a worldwide operating company in the chemical business, founded 1914. The company is controlled by the Wacker-family holding more than 50 percent of the shares. The corporation is operating more than 25 production sites in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The product range includes silicone rubbers, polymer products like ethylene vinyl acetate redispersible polymer powder, chemical materials, polysilicon and wafers for semiconductor industry.
MRC