Wacker Chemie AG to Invest in Expansion at New Bradley County Plant

United States: Wacker, a Munich-based chemical company is expected to expand its existing polysilicon production plant worth USD2.5 billion, through an investment of around USD150 million to add HDK brand of pyrogenic silica. This expansion project at the Charleston, Tennessee facility is expected to start next spring and is expected to be completed by 2019. Upon completion, this project is expected to add another 50 jobs to the existing 650 jobs at Wacker plant. The new production plant will have a production capacity of 13,000 metric ton per annum. Tetrachlorosilane, a byproduct generated form the production of polysilicon can bed fed back to the process after conversion or can also be used to create added value when processed in HDK. The company also has HDK pyrogenic silica production plants located in Burghausen and Nünchritz, Germany and Zhangjiagang, China and is the third largest manufacturer globally in this field.

TechSci Research depicts that the expansion as well as addition of additional capacities will further strengthen the company’s position as a leading manufacturer of pyrogenic silica globally.  This will further help the company to cater to the growing demand for their customers in a better way.

According to the recently published report by TechSci Research, “Global Tire Chemicals Market By Type, By Tire Category, By Region, Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2011-2025”, the global tire chemicals market is projected to surpass 42.58 million tons by 2025, on account of growing demand for highly durable tires by passenger cars, medium & heavy commercial vehicle and OTR tires segment. In 2015, global tire demand stood at 2080 million units, and demand is expected to increase further during the forecast period, owing to increasing vehicle sales, expanding vehicle fleet size, coupled with growing demand for tires from replacement segment. In 2015, demand for passenger car stood at 1241 million, which is further forecast to reach 1659 by 2020. Moreover, demand for heavy & medium weight vehicle from across the world stood at 129 million in 2015, and is projected to to reach 165 million by 2020. Thereby, growing demand for passenger car and heavy & medium weight vehicle, coupled with rising need for high performance tires from across the world to drive global tire chemicals market during the forecast period.