WACKER to Build Production Facilities for Redispersible Powders in China
The Munich-based WACKER Group is to commence building a spray drying facility for the production of VINNAPAS® redispersible powders in China this year. WACKER is ensuring that the facility, scheduled to start operations in 2005, will offer world-class technology and capacity. The company is currently checking out several possible locations. The new site's investment costs, including all infrastructural measures, are estimated at EUR 10 million.
The investment is WACKER's response to a rise in world, and especially Chinese, demand for VINNAPAS® redispersible powders that enhance cementitious dry mortars. Experts estimate that the Chinese market for dry mortars is undergoing double-digit annual percentage growth. Building a spray dryer in China will reinforce and further expand WACKER's leading position in this important growth market. WACKER is the world's largest maker of redispersible powders.
The WACKER SPECIALTIES business division has been producing redispersible powders and dispersions for the construction industry for more than 45 years. VINNAPAS® redispersible powders are thermoplastic polymers derived mostly from vinyl acetate and ethylene. They serve as film-forming binders in a large number of applications, including tile adhesives and joint fillers, mineral plasters, sealing slurries, gypsum, repair mortars, self-leveling flooring compounds and powder paints. They enhance important properties in the end product, such as adhesion, cohesion, flexibility and flexural strength. Water retentivity and processing properties also benefit from VINNAPAS®.
China′s growing demand for VINNAPAS® redispersible powders is chiefly due to the need for dependable, lightweight and energy-efficient building materials. More and more Chinese houses are being lined with exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS). VINNAPAS® is a major component of the specialty mortars used in these systems. The redispersible powder is responsible for ensuring that the individual layers which make up such systems are bonded together permanently. Inside the mortar itself, VINNAPAS® forms a polymeric film that not only improves the adhesion of the mortar, but also makes it more flexible and resistant to impact.
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