In the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival, the silicone market also welcomed a special "gift package". Recently, Wacker Chemie AG announced the official launch of two new specialized silicone production plants in Tsukuba, Japan and Cheongju, South Korea. This news not only injects new vitality into the silicone market, but also points out the direction for the future development of the industry.
The new factory in Tsukuba focuses on producing silicon-based thermal interface materials (TIM), which have broad application prospects in the field of electric vehicles. With the increasing global emphasis on environmental protection and energy conservation, the electric vehicle market has ushered in unprecedented development opportunities. As a key material for thermal management systems in electric vehicles, TIM's market demand has also surged. The TIM production line put into operation by Wacker perfectly meets this market demand. This material combines organic silicone elastomer with various additives and fillers that improve thermal conductivity through a special mixing process, making it an ideal heat dissipation gap filling material for cooling power electronic devices and traction batteries in electric vehicles.
In Cheongju, South Korea, Wacker further consolidated its leading position in the field of silicone sealants. The Qingzhou factory has been producing silicone sealants for the construction industry since 2010, gradually expanding to the production of special silicone, liquid silicone rubber, and silicone elastomers for the automotive and electrical industries. The launch of this new production line will effectively enhance the production capacity of the Qingzhou factory and meet the growing demand for silicone sealants in the Asian market.
Angela Wall, a member of the Executive Board of Wacker, said, "The new production lines in Tsukuba and Cheongju are in line with our strategy of deploying production capacity in areas close to local customers." She further pointed out that over 40% of Wacker Group's sales come from the Asian market, with Japan and South Korea making the main contributions to its sales in Asia. Therefore, deploying production capacity in areas close to local customers not only helps shorten delivery cycles and improve customer satisfaction, but also better grasps market dynamics and flexibly adjusts production plans.
During the Spring Festival, although the silicone market has fallen into a closed state, the news of the production of the new Wacker plant has still attracted widespread attention in the market. Industry insiders believe that the launch of the new Wacker plant will effectively enhance the supply capacity of organic silicon materials in the Asian region and alleviate the supply-demand imbalance in the market. Meanwhile, with the end of the Spring Festival holiday, downstream enterprises will gradually resume work and production, and market demand will gradually recover. Under the joint promotion of supply and demand, the organic silicon market is expected to usher in a new round of upward trend.