Wacker expands capacity for dispersions in China

Thanks to a new reactor for dispersions and an additional spray dryer for dispersible polymer powders, the company can more than double its production capacity at the Nanjing site and thus meet rising demand for high-quality binders, particularly in the fast-growing Chinese construction sector. Wacker has invested around USD 100 million in the integrated production site for the expansion project. "With a share of around 20 percent, China is the world's largest sales market in the construction sector. Thanks to our dispersions and dispersible polymer powders, we can meet the growing demand from China's construction industry for binders for applications such as tile adhesives, cementitious sealing systems and carpet coatings. The capacity expansion in Nanjing will strengthen our position as the world market leader for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders based on vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymers," says Wacker CEO Christian Hartel. China is already one of the world's most important sales markets for adhesives and thus also for polymer dispersions. "With our new plant, we are producing in close proximity to our customers and can thus support their growth even better," adds Peter Summo, head of the Wacker Polymers Business Unit.

At the inauguration ceremony, Alvin Hu, President of Wacker China, emphasized how the expansion measure speaks to the importance of the Chinese market for the Group. "The capacity expansion at the Nanjing site is a milestone for Wacker China. During planning and construction, we provided sufficient space for additional production lines. Future expansion projects can be realized quickly in this way. Not only will this enable us to meet rising demand in China, but we will also create sufficient capacity for long-term development prospects in the region." The investment costs for the expansion of the Nanjing site amounted to over USD 100 million. The expansion measure will more than double the annual production capacity of VAE-based dispersions and dispersible polymer powders at the site. Thanks to a novel dispersion polymerization process and a monitoring system that ensures very high safety standards, the new dispersion reactor is one of the most modern and advanced plants in the industry. The same applies to the new spray dryer for dispersion powder production. The plant uses extremely efficient dryer technology and is operated with an advanced process control (APC) system. The new plants are the largest of their kind in the world. Nanjing is one of four production sites operated by the Wacker Polymers Business Unit worldwide.