ULSAN < invest Korea

Wacker Chemie AG, Germany-based maker of specialty chemical products, will invest $71 million to ramp up its dispersible polymer powders production in South Korea over the next two years.

Dispersible polymer powders like vinyl acetate-ethylene (VAE) are petrochemical products used for making plasters and other industrial adhesives.

Wacker Chemicals Korea Inc., the Korea unit of the German chemical producer, held a groundbreaking ceremony of its new petrochemical manufacturing plant in Ulsan, a port city about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Seoul on Tuesday. It aims to complete building the factory by March 2019 and start commercial production in July 2019.

Once construction is completed, the Ulsan plant would become Wacker Chemie’s largest single-item manufacturing facility in the world.

Founded in 1914, Wacker Chemie is a globally operating chemical company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It has nearly 16,000 employees working at 20 different regions across the world.

The industrial chemicals manufacturer plans to ship out nearly 90 percent of the petrochemical products from the Ulsan lines to other Asian markets including India and Southeast Asia.

The new Ulsan plant will produce dispersible polymer powder products specifically designed for Asian market, said Christian Hartel, head of polymers division at Wacker Chemie.


Wacker Chemie’s polymers factory in Ulsan, Korea [Photo provided by Wacker Chemicals Korea]

By Seo Dae-hyun and Cho Jeehyun

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Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (Nov. 7, 2017)