Whether it‘s protecting buildings from the elements, a tube of toothpaste or a cell phone, airbags, diving goggles or furniture polish: people all over the world come into contact everyday with our products and achievements, often without noticing. As the North American based headquarters for Wacker Chemie AG, Wacker Chemical Corporation develops solutions and technologies and manufactures products for applications both here in the Americas and around the globe .
The WACKER Group’s U.S. activities began in 1965, when the Munich-based chemical company established Wacker Chemicals Corporation in New York. This move provided WACKER with direct access to North American markets. In the U.S., WACKER now operates six production sites, five sales offices and has twenty-one distributors, thus ensuring close proximity to its customers. North America and South America is one of WACKER’s most important forward-looking markets, accounting for around 18 percent of global Group sales €4.6 billion (2016, without Siltronic ).
The Group’s WACKER SILICONES, WACKER POLYSILICON, WACKER POLYMERS and WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS business divisions are represented in the United States by Wacker Chemical Corporation in Adrian, Michigan.
Sites
- Adrian, Michigan: WACKER’s Adrian site is the North American Headquarters for Wacker Chemical Corporation, Wacker Chemie AG’s U.S. based operation. In addition, the 240-acre site has been producing elastomers, silicone fluids and silicone emulsions since 1969 and is WACKER SILICONES’ main U.S. production site. Adrian is also the US headquarters for WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS business division. As a central production/sales/R&D facility/distribution center, Adrian offers comprehensive services, including the WACKER ACADEMY and develops tailored solutions and innovative product applications for its customers.
- Allentown, Pennsylvania: Wacker Chemical Corporation’s Allentown operation serves as the company’s WACKER POLYMERS – AMERICAS headquarters facility. The 67,000 sq.ft. building houses administrative offices, research and development laboratories, a WACKER ACADEMY, sales and marketing as well as technical and customer support services. WACKER POLYMERS is a leading producer of high quality binders and polymer additives in the form of dispersible powders and dispersions for the construction coatings, adhesives, paints, plasters and engineered fabrics industries.
- Calvert City, Kentucky: Is the key manufacturing site in North America for the company’s WACKER POLYMERS division. At this site, WACKER produces aqueous-based dispersions and dispersible polymer powders. Product is shipped from this location primarily within the America’s region with some products exported broadly around the world.
- Charleston, Tennessee: Construction began with earth-moving in April 2011 for WACKER’s US $2.5 billion hyperpure polysilicon production plant. Polysilicon is the key material for advanced applications in solar energy, photovoltaics and semiconductors. During the remainder of this year, WACKER will gradually ramp up production and expects to reach Charleston’s full capacity of over 20,000 metric tons per year in the third quarter of 2016. Currently, the site has about 600 employees and, when fully operational, should have some 650.
- Chino, California: In 1999, WACKER acquired Precision Silicones Inc., a Southern California-based producer of high temperature vulcanizing silicone rubbers. Now operating as SILMIX® - CA and part of Wacker Chemical Corporation, it manufactures a broad range of products, including industrial heat-cured silicone rubbers (HCRs), fluorosilicones, military-specification compounds, pharmaceutical HCRs, silicone color masterbatches, electrically and thermally conductive silicones, low volatility materials, orthopedic molding compounds and aerospace materials.
- North Canton, Ohio: In 2002, Wacker Chemical Corporation acquired the Silmix Company, a specialty producer of customized silicone rubber compounds. Now operating as SILMIX® - OH, and also part of Wacker Chemical Corporation, it produces silicone rubber compounds and compound development of standard and fluorosilicone rubber for key markets ranging from transportation, building and construction, military and mechanical applications and in formulations that are FDA approved, for example seals for food packaging.
- Eddyville, Iowa: Since 1999, Wacker Chemical Corporation’s Eddyville site produces cyclodextrins, which are ring-shaped sugar molecules extracted enzymatically from starches (i.e. with the help of biotechnology). Classic areas of application for cyclodextrins are found in the food ingredients and beverages, nutrition and pharmaceutical industries. The outstanding properties of cyclodextrins also make them ideal for use as stabilizers and host molecules in cosmetics, household products, foods and textiles.
- Mexico City, Mexico: WACKER presence in Mexico began in 1975 as a joint venture when WACKER Mexicana S.A. was formed. In 1994 WACKER acquired 100% interest and formed WACKER MEXICANA, S.A. de C.V. and continued operating as a regional sales office serving customers located in both Middle and South America. In October 2012 WACKER Mexicana moved to a new office building located in the southwestern part of Mexico City. The 830/m2 facility now offers customers comprehensive support consisting of sales and marketing, customer service and administrative offices, state-of-the-art technical center and WACKER ACADEMY. The technical center’s construction applications laboratory is completely climate and humidity controlled, permitting optimum testing processes for development of applications typically found in middle and South American markets.
- Dalton, Georgia: WACKER strengthened its presence in the USA in 2013 by bringing a new technical center for carpet applications on stream. Located in Dalton, Georgia, commonly referred to as the “Carpet Capital of the World,” the new facility features labs for developing and testing polymeric binders for the carpet industry using formulations based upon vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE) dispersions. At the same time, the WACKER ACADEMY, the Group’s international training and education center, opened a local branch at the Dalton facility. This unique seminar program is tailored to the specific needs of the carpet industry.
