Sales and Marketing (unaudited section)

In 2020, WACKER’s sales trend was influenced by the global spread of the coronavirus pandemic. WACKER SILICONES reported the largest drop in sales at 9 percent, while WACKER POLYMERS posted only a marginal decline and WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS and WACKER POLYSILICON delivered slight increases. Prices were lower year over year in all areas, while at WACKER SILICONES volumes contracted as well. On the other hand, WACKER POLYMERS, WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS and WACKER POLYSILICON generated volume growth.

WACKER’s chemical business is geared to three customer groups: key accounts, regional customers and distributors. WACKER currently has 37 key accounts, through which it generated around 23 percent of its total chemical sales in 2020. More than 50 percent of sales stemmed from about 5,000 active relationships with other customers. Our distributors account for some 22 percent of sales.

Marketing communication plays a central role in supporting branding and the sale of products. In 2020, WACKER spent €7.5 million on marketing communication (2019: €14.8 million).

Pandemic Rules Out Most In-Person Tradeshows

Presentations at international tradeshows more or less ground to a halt in 2020. The number of tradeshows slumped to 32 (2019: 114), of which honored eleven could be attended in person. We analyze the success of tradeshow communication in both qualitative and quantitative terms.

Silicones

General term used to describe compounds of organic molecules and silicon. According to their areas of application, silicones can be classified as fluids, resins or rubber grades. Silicones are characterized by a myriad of outstanding properties. Typical areas of application include construction, the electrical and electronics industries, shipping and transportation, textiles and paper coatings.

Polymer

A polymer is a large molecule made up of smaller molecular units (monomers). It contains between 10,000 and 100,000 monomers. Polymers can be long or ball-shaped.

Polysilicon

Hyperpure polycrystalline silicon from WACKER POLYSILICON is used for manufacturing wafers for the electronics and solar industries. To produce it, metallurgical-grade silicon is converted into liquid trichlorosilane, highly distilled and deposited in hyperpure form at 1,000 °C.