Key Events 2015 – 2016
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February 2015
Focusing on Health
A new health center for the Burghausen site: WACKER invested some €4 million to build the new center, which features state-of-the-art medical technology to provide flexible health care to the site’s approximately 10,000 employees. The center’s outpatient facility is staffed around the clock with paramedics. This investment underpins WACKER’s commitment as an employer to the health of its employees – especially in light of a longer working life.
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March 2015
Food-Grade Solid Resins
WACKER commissioned a new production plant for food-grade polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) solid resins at its Nanjing site in China. The solid resins are used for manufacturing gumbase. The Group invested around €20 million in this expansion project, strengthening its position as the world’s leading manufacturer of PVAc solid resins for the chewing-gum industry. With an annual capacity of 20,000 metric tons, the plant is the largest of its kind in Asia and is certified to the highest food standards.
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June 2015
Siltronic AG’s IPO
Siltronic shares started trading on June 11, 2015 in the regulated market segment (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. A total of 12.65 million shares were placed, consisting of 5 million new shares issued through a capital increase at Siltronic and 7.65 million shares originally held by WACKER. The issue price was set at €30 per share. The total proceeds from the IPO amounted to just under €380 million. At the time, the free float for Siltronic AG stood at 42.2 percent, with WACKER holding a 57.8-percent stake in the company.
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September 2015
Company of the Year
The weekly publication ICIS Chemical Business named WACKER as its Company of the Year. The jury stated that WACKER had achieved strong growth in 2014, kept costs under control and pushed profits and margins higher despite a difficult global economic and oil-price environment. The Group had increased its 2014 sales under challenging conditions and was well-positioned for future gains. The jury’s analysis took into account absolute and year-over-year performance in terms of sales, the operating result, profits and the EBITDA margin.
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September 2015
Outstanding Logistics Strategy
The German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) held a Responsible Care® competition in the reporting year on the theme of: “We have good ideas for transport safety and sustainable logistics.” At the award ceremony in Hamburg, the VCI honored a WACKER project designed to optimize overseas freight shipments. WACKER had submitted a sustainable strategy for efficient container management. The strategy has reduced the number of empty containers transported since 2011 by 20 percent, thereby cutting CO2 emissions, too. The jury praised the “quantifiable success” and “optimization of the entire logistics chain.” Prior to this, the Bavarian branch of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) had already presented its Responsible Care® Award to WACKER for this project.
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October 2015
New Dispersion Plant in the USA
WACKER started operating a new plant for vinyl acetate-ethylene (VAE) copolymer dispersions at its US site in Calvert City, Kentucky. The Group invested around €50 million in expanding production and infrastructure there. This additional capacity enables WACKER to meet rising global demand for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders. WACKER has been manufacturing such products at its Calvert City site since 1998.
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November 2015
Change in Executive Board
Dr. Joachim Rauhut, CFO of Wacker Chemie AG, left the company as planned when his contract expired on October 31, 2015. Dr. Tobias Ohler, a WACKER Executive Board member since early 2013, took over as CFO. Dr. Christian Hartel, previously in charge of WACKER SILICONES, joined the Executive Board effective November 1, 2015.
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December 2015
New Production Site in the USA
WACKER has been gradually starting up its facilities at the new polysilicon production site in Charleston, Tennessee (USA) since December 2015. The new site is the largest investment project in the Group’s history to date. The decision to build in Tennessee is part of WACKER’s strategy of operating fully integrated, local sites for silicon-based products in the world’s key economic regions.
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March 2016
Technical Competence CenterTCC in Singapore Expanded
WACKER expanded its technical competence center in Singapore to include a new development and test lab for silicone elastomers, which are used, for example, in the electronics and healthcare sectors. The silicone and polymeric-binder labs for construction applications were also newly furnished.
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April 2016
New Polysilicon Site Starts Up in USA
The new polysilicon site in the US state of Tennessee was formally opened. The site in Charleston is WACKER’s single largest investment ever, totaling some US$2.5 billion. We finished commissioning the production facilities there on schedule in the third quarter. Full capacity is over 20,000 metric tons per annum. Around 650 people work at the Charleston site.
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June 2016
Expansion of Production in South Korea
WACKER began expanding its production capacities for silicone rubber at the Jincheon site in South Korea. We are erecting new plants for manufacturing more silicone sealants, specialty silicones and liquid silicone rubber for the construction, electronics and automotive industries.
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June 2016
Integration Project for Young Refugees
To mark World Refugee Day on June 20, SchlaU, a Munich-based refugee initiative, and Wacker Chemie AG launched a project to enable young refugees in the Bavarian district of Altötting to start their working lives. We donated a total of €200,000 to the SchlaU School. The collaboration with WACKER’s Burghausen Vocational Training Center (BBiW) aims to help young refugees living in Bavaria’s Altötting district learn German and to find them suitable training positions.
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August 2016
WACKER Silicone Award 2016
Dr. Alexander Filippou, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Bonn, Germany, received the 2016 WACKER Silicone Award. The award was presented at the eighth European Silicon Days event in Poznań, Poland, in recognition of Filippou’s groundbreaking work in the field of organosilicon chemistry.
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October 2016
Alexander Wacker Innovation Award 2016
WACKER presented the Alexander Wacker Innovation Award 2016 to a research team in Burghausen for developing a 3D printing process. The first industrial 3D printer manufactures parts from silicones. The high-tech printer is called ACEO® Imagine Series K, and the procedure developed by WACKER researchers is considered a milestone in additive manufacturing.
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October 2016
Boosting Silicone Research in the USA
WACKER is boosting its R&D for silicones in the USA with a new lab complex in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The complex is dedicated to developing new products and business fields in North, Central and South America, and is scheduled to begin operations in the first half of 2017.
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October 2016
Innovations at K 2016 – the World’s Largest Plastics Tradeshow
At the K 2016 plastics show in Düsseldorf, WACKER presented innovative products and technologies for key industries such as the automotive, electronics, lighting and healthcare sectors. Among other innovations, WACKER showcased textile sensors of silicone film, crystal-clear encapsulation compounds for LEDs, and optical lenses. WACKER also presented the world’s first-ever industrial 3D printer for silicones.
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November 2016
Investing in Research & Development in China
A pilot reactor for vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE) dispersions came on stream at the Nanjing site in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. With the new plant, we are intensifying our local R&D and expanding our local product developments, application technology and customer service offerings.
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December 2016
Cysteine Production Facility Acquired in Spain
WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS acquired a large-scale fermentation plant in northern Spain: the plant at the León site is to produce cysteine for foods and pharmaceutical products by fermentation processes. The acquisition is a strategic step toward meeting our customers’ cysteine demand in the long term and offering other bioengineered products.
- 2015-2016
- February 2015Focusing on Health
- March 2015Food-Grade Solid Resins
- June 2015Siltronic AG’s IPO
- September 2015Company of the Year
- September 2015Outstanding Logistics Strategy
- October 2015New Dispersion Plant in the USA
- November 2015Change in Executive Board
- December 2015New Production Site in the USA
- March 2016Technical Competence Center in Singapore Expanded
- April 2016New Polysilicon Site Starts Up in USA
- June 2016Expansion of Production in South Korea
- June 2016Integration Project for Young Refugees
- August 2016WACKER Silicone Award 2016
- October 2016Alexander Wacker Innovation Award 2016
- October 2016Boosting Silicone Research in the USA
- October 2016Innovations at K 2016 – the World’s Largest Plastics Tradeshow
- November 2016Investing in Research & Development in China
- December 2016Cysteine Production Facility Acquired in Spain