MUNICH—Wacker Chemie A.G. will sell its pyrogenic silica on CheMondis GmbH and Pinpools GmbH, two online marketplaces for selling chemical raw materials and specialty products.
The move, which includes its HDK Pyrogenic Silica brand, will build digital business-to-business experience for Wacker and bring in new customers and additional marketing channels for its product portfolio, according to a company news release.
"By deciding to sell our pyrogenic silica online, we hope to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by digitalization while raising the profile of a product that can be used as an additive in so many different applications," said Maria-Anna Biebl, director of the HDK business team for Wacker's silicones division.
Industrial customers can use either platform to order a total of nine HDK grades with a wide range of rheological characteristics, Wacker said. Two products developed especially for the food and animal-feed industries, HDK N20 Nutrition and HDK T40 Nutrition, are available on Pinpools only.
Wacker looked at a lot of online marketplaces before choosing CheMondis and Pinpools, according to Axel Schmidt, chief digital officer for customers at Wacker.
"We were especially looking for platforms that would complement our existing sales activities as effectively as possible and would help us reach out to new customers and markets," Schmidt said. The collaboration is a building block in Wacker's strategy of testing and opening up new sales channels for products.
Wacker said pyrogenic silica can be used in a variety of applications, such as a filler for silicones, thermal insulation and an additive to control liquid flow characteristics. Its key customers for the product are in the sealants, adhesives, paints and coatings, and food and animal-feed industries.
CheMondis, a startup founded by Lanxess A.G., is used by more than 650 companies across Europe to sell more than 7,500 products. Pinpools, which started in 2016, hosts 500 active buyers and vendors, and serves as a trading platform for more than 5,000 products with a focus on paint and coatings, construction and the food and animal feed industry.