Key Events
February 2017
In Burghausen, WACKER expanded its dispersion production capacity, increasing annual capacity to 60,000 metric tons. Investment spending for this amounted to some €25 million.
March 2017
In an accelerated bookbuilding, WACKER gave up its majority in Siltronic AG. In total, 6.3 million Siltronic shares were placed with institutional investors at €55.85 per share. WACKER still holds 30.8 percent of the shares in Siltronic after this transaction and thus remains the biggest individual shareholder in the company.
April 2017
At the European Coatings Show in Nuremberg – the biggest of its kind in Europe – WACKER presented new polymeric binders and silicones, together with innovations for the construction, packaging and adhesives industries.
May 2017
WACKER intensified its cooperation with innovative company founders by becoming involved in Germany’s HTGF III fund.
May 2017
WACKER strengthened its presence in high-growth Asia: in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, a new technical competence center for construction and adhesive applications opened its doors.
June 2017
WACKER started up a new silicones R&D center in the USA, with the aim of pushing the development of new products in North America.
The research and analytical laboratories are located in the university town of Ann Arbor in Michigan.
The research and analytical laboratories are located in the university town of Ann Arbor in Michigan.
July 2017
WACKER published its sustainability report for 2015 and 2016, recording a 41-percent reduction in emissions, consumption and energy input at our biggest production site in Burghausen during the previous ten years.
August 2017
In São Paulo, WACKER joined customers in celebrating the 40th anniversary of its South American headquarters in Brazil. At the Jandira site near São Paulo, WACKER built a multifunctional facility for manufacturing antifoam agents and functional silicone fluids.
September 2017
At the US production site in Charleston, a technical defect led to the escape of hydrogen and an explosion, which damaged pipes and a building. Production was shut down until the damage had been investigated and repair work completed.
October 2017
WACKER presented the Alexander Wacker Innovation Award to a research team for developing high-temperature silicone fluids. The product, HELISOL®, can be heated up to 425 °C and its viscosity remains low even at -40 °C. In solar thermal power plants, it achieves efficiencies that are impossible with conventional heat-transfer media.
November 2017
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited WACKER’s Nünchritz production site during his three-day tour of the Free State of Saxony. Accompanied by Saxony’s State Governor Stanislaw Tillich, he learned about WACKER’s role as an economic player in the region, as well as about the recruitment of suitably qualified staff, training programs, and maintaining a work-life balance.
November 2017
Ground-breaking in Ulsan, South Korea: WACKER is expanding its existing production facilities for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders. We are constructing a new spray dryer for dispersible polymer powders with a capacity of 80,000 metric tons, as well as a further reactor for dispersions based on vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE). About €60 million is being spent on this project, with production set to begin in 2019.
January 2018
The Bavarian government commended WACKER for its policy of workplace inclusiveness. Johannes Hintersberger, State Secretary at the Bavarian Ministry of Social Affairs, presented Wacker Chemie AG with the “Inclusion in Bavaria – We Work Together” emblem.
March 2018
At the Bavarian Young Scientists Competition, which WACKER sponsors, 79 budding scientists presented their scientific and technical projects to a specialist jury in Munich.
April 2018
WACKER acquired a production plant for biopharmaceuticals from SynCo Bio Partners Luxembourg S.à r.l. The new subsidiary, Wacker Biotech B.V., is based in Amsterdam.
April 2018
WACKER opened a new production site for silicone elastomers in Jincheon, South Korea. The new plant manufactures silicone sealants and specialty silicones for the electronics industry.
May 2018
The Bavarian government recognized WACKER as a family-friendly company. Participating in the state’s “Successful. Family-Friendly” corporate competition, WACKER was commended for its exemplary support in reconciling family life and work.
May 2018
Following the loss event at the Charleston, Tennessee (USA) site in September 2017, WACKER gradually began ramping up the production facilities again. WACKER is also constructing a new plant for pyrogenic silica there.
June 2018
WACKER joined the “Familienpakt Bayern” network (Family Pact Bavaria) of the Bavarian government and Bavarian industry. By doing so, the company underscored its goal of promoting a family-friendly corporate culture.
July 2018
Bavarian State Governor Dr. Markus Söder visited the Burghausen plant. He was met by Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker (Supervisory Board chairman), Dr. Rudolf Staudigl (president and CEO) and site manager Dr. Dieter Gilles. They explained Burghausen’s importance as the oldest and largest site in the Group’s production network.
September 2018
At the European Silicon Days in Saarbrücken, Dr. Herbert W. Roesky, Emeritus Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the Georg-August University of Göttingen, was presented with the WACKER Silicone Award for his work on low-valence silicon chemistry.
September 2018
WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS began producing fermentation-generated cystine at its site in León, Spain.
September 2018
Germany’s chemical industry opened its gates to the public. WACKER opened its Burghausen and Nünchritz sites and Munich-based central research facility for the event. More than 25,000 visitors turned up.
October 2018
WACKER presented the Alexander Wacker Innovation Award in the product-innovation category to two Burghausen-based chemists. They developed binders for producing especially high-performing adhesives, sealants, wood varnishes and coating materials.
November 2018
At the China International Import Exhibition (CIIE) in Shanghai, WACKER’s booth attracted numerous visitors interested in new technologies such as 3D printing with silicones. CIIE was attended by WACKER Executive Board members Dr. Rudolf Staudigl and Dr. Christian Hartel, who welcomed guests such as Christian Hirte, Parliamentary State Secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.