BURGHAUSEN, Germany—Munich-based Wacker Group has announced a $28.4 million expansion of functional silicone fluid capacity at its Wacker Silicones facility in Burghausen.
The new expansion came online in early January of 2016, according to a Wacker press release. It increases the Burghausen plant's total production capacity by about 70 percent, the company said.
Rising global demand for specialty silicone fluids and emulsions in the construction, coating, paper, cosmetics and personal care industries drove the decision to expand capacity in Burghausen, according to Wacker.
“The completion of our polysilicon production site in Tennessee has essentially concluded our investment in full-scale plants for the manufacture of precursors,” Rudolf Staudigl, Wacker president and CEO, said in a statement. “We are now focusing on plants for intermediates, sales products and specialty products.”
The expansion at Burghausen is a good example of this strategy, Staudigl said.
One of the world's largest silicones manufacturers, Wacker Silicones manufactures more than 3,000 specialty silicone products including silicone fluids, emulsions, resins, elastomers and sealants as well as silanes, silane-terminated polymers and pyrogenic silica.