Dow Corning, Wacker Chemie unveil silicone plant in Jiangsu

Dow Corning and joint venture partner Wacker Chemie this week officially inaugurated their US$1.8 billion joint-venture silicone plant in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province.

The plant is the largest of its kind in China and one of Dow's three largest production bases worldwide. It has an annual capacity of 210,000 tonnes of siloxane and pyrogenic silica - raw materials widely used in construction and car-making, as well as solar-energy component makers and electronics.

'The quality silicone products we produce here will support our customers' success in their markets and, on a larger scale, China's remarkable pace of development,' said Stephanie Burns, chairman and chief executive of Dow Corning.

'Manufacturing in this location means we can deliver key materials much faster than importing them from the United States or Europe, thus improving our efficiency and ability to serve customers in the region.'

Dow says it will decide whether to expand production in about 12 months when the Zhangjiagang plant reaches its full capacity. The facility now employs 1,200 workers.

The US company forecasts that as a supplier to the booming mainland economy, its own business growth could be triple that of the country's gross domestic product. The mainland economy grew 8.7 per cent last year. Burns wouldn't reveal detailed sales figures for China, but said the country was responsible for half of Dow's global sales.