Wacker Chemie AG is expanding its Chinese polymer activities by investing around $100 million in building two new production plants at its Nanjing site.  

It is expanding Nanjing by adding a reactor for vinyl-acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE) dispersions and a spray dryer for VAE dispersible polymer powders.  

The new plants’ construction is set to start as soon as the local authorities have issued the final permits.  

The reactor and spray dryer are scheduled to come on stream in the second half of 2022.  The two plants, when completed, will be the largest of their kind in the world. 

WACKER’s Nanjing expansion will more than double its production capacity there. 

“China is the largest building market in the world, accounting for 20 percent of all construction investment. Our capacity expansion in Nanjing strengthens our position as the global leader for vinyl acetate-ethylene dispersions and polymer powders,” said Rudolf Staudigl, CEO of Wacker Chemie AG. 

“Our binders not only enhance the properties of building materials but also make construction activities more resource-efficient,” added Paul Lindblad, president of WACKER Greater China. “Ongoing urbanization and the need to renovate existing residential buildings continue to drive the development of environmentally-friendly dry-mix building materials in China. Nanjing’s expanded capacities will enable us to securely meet future market growth in the region.”