Procurement and Logistics (unaudited section)

WACKER’s procurement volume fell in 2019 to €3.4 billion (2018: €3.6 billion). This was mostly due to substantially reduced raw-material prices, but also to slightly lower purchasing volumes. At 69 percent, the procurement rate – raw materials, services and other materials as a percentage of sales – was well below the prior-year level (2018: 73 percent). At around 11,000, the number of suppliers was at the prior-year level.

At €1.9 billion, the amount spent by the Group to procure energy and raw materials was down nearly 10 percent (2018: €2.1 billion). Energy spending (electricity and natural gas) climbed some 9 percent, prompted by higher polysilicon output in the USA and by Germany’s persistently high, and rising, electricity prices. This added expenditure was more than offset by raw-material savings. Raw-material quantities fell by a low-single-digit percentage versus the prior year. Additionally, raw-material prices sank by over 5 percent after two years of rising market prices.