Wacker set to build two new production facilities in China

Wacker Chemie AG has announced it is expanding its Chinese polymer activities by investing around €40M in building two production facilities at its Nanjing site.

The Munich-based chemical group is expanding the site’s existing facilities for vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE) dispersions by adding a new reactor with a capacity of 60,000t/yr, which will double Nanjing’s VAE dispersion capacity to approx 120,000t/yr, making the complex one of the biggest of its kind in China. The reactor is scheduled to come on stream in mid-2013.

At Nanjing, Wacker is also building a plant to produce polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) solid resins with a 20,000t/yr capacity. This plant is due for completion in early 2013.

The production facilities will give Wacker sufficient long-term capacity to meet the strong demand for VAE dispersions and PVAc solid resins in the Asia Pacific region. The main application fields for VAE dispersions lie in construction, coatings and adhesives. PVAc solid resins are used in industrial applications and to manufacture gumbase.

"These expansion measures are necessary to keep pace with our customers’ robust demand for top-class VAE dispersions and high-quality polyvinyl acetate solid resins in the future,” explained Auguste Willems of Wacker Chemie AG’s Executive Board.