Regions

WACKER’s operations are highly international – with 85.2 percent of 2012’s €4.63 billion in sales being generated by business abroad (2011: €4.91 billion). Germany accounted for 14.8 percent.

Modest Growth in Asia

Regionally, Asia offers us the greatest opportunities for business and growth. The main impetus driving sales higher is the rising standard of living in Asia’s emerging economies. This is spurring demand for the high-quality products that we supply. Accounting for 40 percent of Group sales (2011: 37 percent), Asia remains our principal market. Sales there reached €1.86 billion (2011: €1.82 billion) – up 2.2 percent. In Greater China (including Taiwan), though, sales edged lower. In this region, the Group posted sales of €986 million, down 1.7 percent (2011: €1.03 billion). WACKER performed very strongly both in Southeast Asia, where sales were 31.5 percent higher, and in India, where sales climbed 17.0 percent. In both regions, more products were sold, above all by WACKER SILICONES and WACKER POLYMERS (two chemical divisions), but also by WACKER POLYSILICON.

Europe Marked by Debt Crisis

In Europe, where WACKER has always had a very strong market position, sales retreated because of the sovereign-debt crisis and the weakness of many EU economies. European sales were down 8.1 percent to €1.09 billion (2011: €1.19 billion) – with Europe accounting for a 23.5 percent share in Group sales (2011: 24.2 percent). In Germany, sales fell more steeply, decreasing 23.7 percent to €686.0 million (2011: €899.4 million).

Business in the Americas Slightly below Prior Year

In the Americas, business edged below the year-earlier level, with sales falling 1.4 percent to €834.2 million (2011: €846.4 million). While the chemical business grew more than 15 percent, polysilicon sales were much lower than in the previous year. The Americas accounted for 18.0 percent of Group sales (2011: 17.2 percent).

Other Regions Continue to Grow

Sales in the “Other” regions continued to grow, rising by 4.4 percent to €162.0 million (2011: €155.2 million). WACKER generates a large portion of these sales in Middle Eastern countries.