WACKER is a globally active company with state-of-the-art specialty chemical products. Our portfolio includes over 3,200 products supplied to more than 3,500 customers in over 100 countries. WACKER products are found in countless everyday items, ranging from cosmetic powders to solar cells.

Silicon Is Our Main Starting Material

Most of our products are based on inorganic starting materials. Silicon-based products account for 80 percent of WACKER sales, and products that are primarily ethylene-related for 20 percent. Our customers come from virtually every major sector, ranging from consumer goods, food, pharmaceuticals, textiles and the solar, electrical/electronics and base-chemical industries, to medical technology, biotech and mechanical engineering. As a manufacturer of silicones and polymers, WACKER is particularly well represented in the automotive and construction sectors. We are also a key supplier of silicon wafers to the semiconductor industry. In recent years, the market for polycrystalline silicon for the solar industry – an area in which WACKER is one of the world’s largest manufacturers – has demonstrated strong growth.

Technical Competence Centers Support Sales and Marketing Activities

WACKER operates all over the world. Our sales strategy is centered around expanding our presence in growth markets. Our sales organization is supplemented not only by a network of technical competence centers, where customers learn about WACKER’s product portfolio, but also by the WACKER ACADEMY, where we offer technical training sessions on our products and their application fields. In 2014, we expanded our existing technical competence center for silicone applications in Kolkata, India, and opened a new sales office in Manila in the Philippines. In total, WACKER has 52 sales offices in 28 countries.

New Production Site in Germany

WACKER’s integrated global production system consists of 25 production sites (2013: 24). Of these, eight are in Europe, seven in the Americas and nine in Asia. With the acquisition of Scil Proteins Production GmbH, a site for therapeutic protein production in Halle, Germany, has been added to this system. The Group’s key production site is Burghausen (Germany). At this site alone, we have some 9,700 employees (including temporary workers and trainees). In 2014, Burghausen’s manufacturing output reached around 680,000 metric tons, accounting for over 50 percent of the Group’s production output. Alongside Burghausen, Nünchritz is WACKER’s second multidivisional site.

Legal Structure

Our legal structure has not changed compared with the previous reporting period. In November 2005, WACKER became a stock corporation (AG) under German law. Headquartered in Munich, Wacker Chemie AG holds a direct or indirect stake in 56 companies belonging to the WACKER Group. The consolidated financial statements cover 52 fully consolidated companies. Three companies are accounted for using the equity method. One small company that is not part of our core operations has not been consolidated.

Five Operating Divisions

WACKER is based on a matrix organization with clearly defined functions. The Group has five business divisions, which have global responsibility for their own products, manufacturing facilities, markets, customers and results. Regional organizations are responsible for all business in their countries. WACKER’s corporate departments primarily provide services for the whole Group, although some also have production-related functions.