Wacker expands capacity for specialty silicones
Wacker Chemie AG has started up two new production facilities for specialty silicones in Japan and South Korea. The expansion is intended to strengthen the company’s activities in the Asian growth market.
The new plants, located in Tsukuba, Japan and in Jincheon, South Korea, have been built to serve the growing demand from the automotive and construction industries for these products. In total, Wacker has invested an amount in the double digit million EUR range in the capacity expansions.
New sites
The capacity expansion at Wacker’s production site in Tsukuba is targeting customers from the automotive industry, especially in the field of electromobility. The newly built plant hosts a production line for manufacturing silicone-based thermal interface materials (TIM). These materials are basically silicone elastomers that have been modified with various additives and fillers during compounding to render them thermally conductive. In Tsukuba Wacker is now producing silicone specialties as part of the Wacker Asahikasei Silicone (AWS) joint venture founded in 1999. Here, the group also operates a technical center and a training center for silicone applications.
