Wacker Expands Polymer Site in China, Builds 2 New Production Facilities

Wacker Chemie said it is expanding its Chinese polymer activities by investing around €40 million in building two new production facilities at its Nanjing site. The company said it is expanding the site's existing facilities for vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE) dispersions by adding a new reactor with an annual capacity of 60,000 metric tons. This measure will double Nanjing's VAE dispersion capacity to about 120,000 metric tons per year, making the complex one of the biggest of its kind in China, according to Wacker. The new reactor is scheduled to come on stream in mid-2013. At Nanjing, Wacker is also building a new plant to produce polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) solid resins with an annual capacity of 20,000 metric tons. This plant is due for completion in early 2013.