Milestones

Milestones 2006

April 10
Wacker Chemie AG’s IPO: access to capital markets enables us to make better use of growth opportunities. Examples include production-capacity expansion in China, the new polysilicon facilities in Germany and capacity increases for 300 mm wafers.

June 28
Expansion of polysilicon production at WACKER Burghausen to meet the solar industry’s accelerating global demand for hyperpure polycrystalline silicon for solar cells.

July 14
WACKER’s Siltronic subsidiary and Samsung Electronics join forces to construct a 300 mm wafer fab in Singapore – a 50:50 joint venture between a semiconductor producer and a wafer manufacturer. Investments in this project total $1 billion.

September 8
Groundbreaking: in Zhangjiagang (China), WACKER and Dow Corning start to build the world’s largest siloxane production plant to date. They will construct a joint pyrogenic silica production plant on the same site, too. WACKER and Dow Corning will also develop and operate separate manufacturing facilities for downstream silicone products. Investments in the joint-venture projects will exceed $600 million over the coming years.

December 21
WACKER endows an Institute of Silicon Chemistry within the Faculty of Chemistry at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The institute is under the direction of the Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry, which carries the WACKER name. In total, the company has earmarked €6 million for the institute.

Milestones 2007

January 19
Opening of a technical center in Singapore for our Southeast Asian customers. It serves as a regional competence center for applications in the construction, textile and pulp & paper sectors.

February 8
WACKER commissions manufacturing plants for silicone products in China, aiming to further extend its lead in China’s booming silicones market.

April 18
WACKER opens a construction-chemicals technical center in Beijing. With lab facilities to develop and test polymeric binders, the center offers customers optimum local support for new product developments and promotes internationally recognized quality standards in the construction industry.

June 5
WACKER builds a new production plant for dispersible polymer powders in China and a new spray dryer in Nanjing, increasing its Chinese capacities by a further 30,000 metric tons per year. As a result, Asia-Pacific customers can enjoy reliable delivery and consistently high product quality over the long term.

July 26
The WACKER Silicone Award goes to the exceptional scientist Prof. Yitzhak Apeloig for his pioneering theoretical and experimental work in organosilicon chemistry.

November 7
WACKER expands its biologics production in Jena (Germany) to promote further growth and strengthen its position in this market.

Milestones 2008

February 1
WACKER finalizes the acquisition of its polymer joint ventures. As the world’s leading supplier of dispersible polymer powders for construction applications, WACKER expects the transaction to benefit its global polymers business on several strategic fronts.

June 19
Siltronic and Samsung jointly start to produce 300 mm wafers in Singapore. The new complex is among the world’s largest and most modern 300 mm wafer facilities. By 2010, the joint venture aims to reach a monthly capacity of 300,000 wafers and to employ 800 staff. The overall investment in this project is about $1 billion.

July 3
WACKER and the TUM open the Institute of Silicon Chemistry, part of the WACKER Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry, at the research center in Garching (near Munich). The lab offers ideal working conditions for interdisciplinary research into macromolecular organosilicon compounds.

October 11
WACKER opens a training and competence center for construction chemicals in Moscow. This international facility offers the ideal platform for sector-specific networking between customers, sales partners and WACKER experts. The Group is also expanding its Moscow technical center, which promotes the transfer of expertise to local customers and business partners.

November 14
WACKER and Dow Corning start raw material production at the largest integrated silicone site in China. The two companies are jointly investing some $1.2 billion in expanding pyrogenic-silica and siloxane production. Not only is it China’s biggest facility of this kind, but it is also one of the world’s largest and most advanced integrated silicone production sites.