Wacker Chemie is expanding its vinyl acetate ethylene co-polymer capacity in the U.S. The Munich, Germany-based company will add a reactor with an annual capacity of 85,000 tons in Culver City, CA. The €50 million investment will make the site the second largest of its kind in North America. The new capacity will come onstream by mid-year.

“Capacity expansion is essential if we are to meet our customers’ demand for our dispersions over the coming years,” explains Rudolf Staudigl, CEO of Wacker Chemie AG. “After extending our dispersions capacities at our sites in South Korea and China in the course of the last two years, we have now pushed ahead with expanding our production in the U.S., too. Thus, we will be able to keep pace with future market growth and strengthen our leading position in VAE dispersions.”

Wacker has also added an ethylene pipeline to the Calvert City facility for increasing the long-term reliability of raw material supply at the site. “This investment in our continuous raw-material supply is an important step: it not only makes a key contribution to supply security in the years to come, but also to the cost-efficient production of our dispersions,” explains John Fotheringham, vice president of Dispersions.