Wacker Chemie AG has started up a new specialty monomer plant with a yearly capacity of 3,800 metric tons at its Burghausen facility in Germany.
"The specialty monomers; vinyl neodecanoate and vinyl laurate are key raw materials in the manufacture of specialty dispersible polymer powders," Wacker Chemie said in a press release.
"The goal of the new plant is to ensure that Wacker has sufficient specialty-binder capacity available, both now and in the future, to provide its customers with a secure and long-term supply," it added.
Wacker invested around €8 million in the new facility and has as a result, strengthened its position as the world's biggest producer of dispersible polymer powders.
By expanding its capacities, Wacker said it is meeting global demand for its dispersible polymer powders, which is rising amid such world trends as urbanisation, renovation and energy efficiency.
The specialty monomers vinyl neodecanoate and vinyl laurate give Wacker's dispersible polymer powders special properties, such as hydrophobicity.
Christoph Riemer, head of polymer-powder business at Wacker Polymers said, "We now have the capacity we need to secure long-term captive supply of these raw materials."
"In addition, the facility reinforces our leading market and cost positions sustainably," he observed by saying.
Bors Abele, head of acetyls business at Wacker Polymers too said, "We have developed and patented our own novel process for the new plant based on vinyl acetate, a raw material that we produce on site."
"The process makes our production operations markedly more flexible and self-sufficient compared with conventional processes elsewhere," Abele informed.
Wacker has been producing dispersible polymer powders as binders for dry-mix mortars in Burghausen, Germany, since 1957 and is a global technology and market leader in this field.
Vinnapas polymer powders find use in applications such as tile adhesives, self-leveling flooring compounds, plasters, repair mortars, external thermal insulation composite systems and sealing slurries.
Wacker Polymers is a leading producer of state-of-the-art binders and polymeric additives based on poly vinyl acetate and vinyl acetate copolymers.
These take the form of dispersible polymer powders, dispersions, solid resins, and solutions and are used in construction chemicals, paints, surface coatings, adhesives and nonwovens, as well as in fibre composites.
Wacker Polymers has production sites in Germany, China, South Korea and USA, as well as a global sales network and technical centres in all major regions.
