China's green development helps German company weather pandemic storm
Silicone is a key material for making electric vehicles.
China's domestic consumption and high-quality development strategy helped Wacker China, a German multinational chemical company, get through the uncertainty of 2020.
The company's 2020 sales reached 1.025 billion euros (US$1.22 billion), only 0.3 percent lower than 2019 sales of 1.05 billion euros thanks to domestic consumption and upgraded manufacturing. By comparison, its global sales declined 5 percent to 4.69 billion euro.
Wacker China’s sales began rebounding in the second quarter of last year when the pandemic became well contained throughout China. Customer demand for most of its products remained high the rest of the year.
Its silicone product in China even could not meet demand from sectors such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, electronics and consumer products, where business was particularly strong last year that exceeded the supply.
The company's polymers, primarily used in construction, grew robustly due to the recovery of China’s construction industry. Its polysilicon used in the photovoltaic and semiconductor industries returned to growth in 2020 after a two-year decline.
However, sales in its biosolutions division, for which it is the world’s largest key material manufacturer for chewing gum, declined because chewing gum consumption fell significantly with social and travel activities dampened.
“Looking forward, we will benefit from China’s focus on quality growth, reflected in its target of increasing GDP by a mild 6 percent or more in 2021,” said Paul Lindblad, president of Wacker China. “As all our business divisions are expecting to increase sales in 2021, Wacker China is confident about returning to growth this year."
