MUNICH/NANJING, China - Wacker Chemie AG is building a new pilot reactor for testing vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE) dispersions at its site in Nanjing, China. This will help WACKER to strengthen its local research and development capabilities in Greater China. The new pilot reactor will help the company increase its local expertise in product development, applications support and customer service, thereby serving the growing markets for high-quality VAE binders in China and Asia. Investment for the pilot reactor amounts to some €2.4 million. Scheduled for completion in the second half of 2016, the facility will help solidify WACKER's position as one of the world’s leading suppliers of VAE dispersions.

“Our new test facility at Nanjing is another strategic milestone toward optimally satisfying our customers’ growing demand for high-quality polymer products,” explained Rudolf Staudigl, CEO of Wacker Chemie AG. The company is continually investing in its global facilities to augment and refine its local expertise, applications technology and customer service. “The pilot reactor will enable us to design – together with our customers – first-class locally manufactured products and solutions, and adapt them to specific local requirements. This new facility further solidifies WACKER’s role as a leading technology partner to numerous key industries and illustrates our long-term commitment to China,” Staudigl said.

The pilot reactor will serve as a test facility for tailor-made VAE dispersions, for instance for China’s construction, coatings and adhesives sectors. New products are tested in close collaboration with WACKER’s technical center in Shanghai, taking into account local climatic conditions, building techniques and raw materials. WACKER is responding to the rising demand for high-quality VAE binders in China and Asia. WACKER’s dispersions, marketed under the VINNAPAS^® brand, find application in the formulation of low-odor and low-emission indoor paints, but also in plasters, adhesives, carpet applications and technical textiles.