MUNICH - Wacker Chemie AG is expanding its existing production plants for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders in South Korea. With the Mayor of Ulsan, South Korea, Gi-Hyeon Kim and numerous customers in attendance, WACKER Executive Board member Dr. Christian Hartel, head of WACKER POLYMERS Peter Summo and head of WACKER Korea Dal-Ho Cho celebrated the official start of construction on the major project during a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony. The group is building a new spray dryer for dispersible polymer powders at its Ulsan site, which will have a total capacity of 80,000 metric tons per year. The Munich-based chemicals company is also constructing an additional reactor for dispersions based on vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE), which are needed as the raw material for the spray dryer to produce dispersible polymer powders.

Ulsan's plant complex, which covers the entire production chain from VAE dispersions to dispersible polymer powders, will be one of the largest of its kind in the world. Investments will total around €60 million, and production is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2019.

With the expansion, WACKER is meeting the increasing demand for its high-quality binders, which are particularly needed in the constantly growing construction industry in South Korea and Southeast Asia. "Our existing production facilities in Ulsan provide the ideal setting for the expansion. With this new capacity, we will be able to support our customers right across Asia in a more targeted way by offering them products tailored to their specific requirements," said Christian Hartel, the WACKER Executive Board member responsible for Asia, at the ground-breaking ceremony. According to Hartel, the expansion will also guarantee shorter delivery routes and times.