German chemical firm Wacker has officially opened a new production site for silicones in the Czech Republic. After just two years of construction, the first production line officially went on stream in Karlovy Vary. Here, customised silicones for the automotive, household appliances and medical technology industries as well as for the energy sector will be manufactured.
With the commissioning of the new site, Wacker adds it is reorganising its silicone activities in Europe. Together with the company’s Plze?, Nünchritz, and Burghausen sites, Karlovy Vary will be responsible for supplying customers of silicone specialties going forward.
In the future, liquid silicone rubber will be manufactured in Burghausen, while thermally conductive silicones, potting compounds for the automotive industry and silicone gels for wound care will be produced in Plze?. Room-temperature-curing silicones and solid silicone rubber will be located in Karlovy Vary.
The main drivers for the silicone business are megatrends such as electromobility, medical technology, renewable energy, grid expansion, and digitalisation. Customised silicone elastomers are especially needed where conventional materials cannot meet ever-increasing requirements, such as in thermal management in electric vehicles, wound care and power engineering.
The new production site is located in Business Park Karlovy Vary, a 25,000 sq m industrial park in the north of Karlovy Vary. The land and the building, which Wacker has leased, are owned by the investment group Accolade. The building shell was constructed by the development company Panattoni. Production facilities and laboratory equipment were designed by Wacker.
“We are proud to have been able to build business facilities in Karlovy Vary that go beyond the region’s traditional spa, energy and coal industries. From the very beginning, our goal has been not only to deliver a modern industrial facility of the highest global quality, but also to provide an impetus for the further development of the local economy”, said Ji?í Zita, Panattoni’s Commercial Director in the Czech Republic, during the official ceremony.
“Karlovy Vary is an important pillar for our silicone activities in Europe and a central building block in our specialties strategy,” said Wacker Executive Board member Christian Kirsten at the opening ceremony welcoming around 100 guests from politics, business and industry. “With the new site, we are expanding our position as a solution provider for customers in key industries.”
Wacker has been present in the Czech Republic since the 1990s. In Plze?, the company has been operating a production site for ready-to-use silicones since 2008. Meanwhile, thermally conductive silicones and silicone gels are also manufactured here. In 2023, Plze? also became home to an Excellence Hub, which provides services for the entire group. Up to 200 jobs are to be created there by 2028 and filled by qualified specialists from the region, it adds.