EANS-News: Groundbreaking Ceremony: WACKER Starts Constructing New Polysilicon Production Plant in USA

- Integrated production site with an annual capacity of 15,000 metric
tons in the US State of Tennessee
- Some 650 new jobs to be created
through investments of around €1.1 billion
- Completion by end of
2013 planned
- WACKER CEO Rudolf Staudigl: “Virtually the entire
output of the Tennessee site has been contractually secured for 2014”

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Company Information

Subtitle: - Integrated production site with an annual capacity of
15,000 metric tons in the US State of Tennessee - Some 650 new jobs
to be created through investments of around €1.1 billion - Completion
by end of 2013 planned - WACKER CEO Rudolf Staudigl: “Virtually the
entire output of the Tennessee site has been contractually secured
for 2014”

Munich and Cleveland (TN, USA) (euro adhoc) - April 8, 2011 - Today,
Wacker Chemie AG officially started construction work on a fully
integrated polysilicon-production site in the USA. The groundbreaking
ceremony was attended by numerous representatives from politics,
business and local government. WACKER´s CEO Rudolf Staudigl and
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam broke the ground for the large-scale
project. The production complex, with an annual capacity of 15,000
metric tons, is scheduled for completion by late 2013. The project is
the single largest investment in WACKER´s history and is expected to
create around 650 new jobs in Cleveland.

As announced earlier, WACKER is also expanding its German facilities
at Burghausen and Nünchritz. The total increase there will be 10,000
metric tons per year by 2012. As a result, WACKER´s overall hyperpure
polysilicon capacity will rise to 67,000 metric tons by 2014.

Thanks to the new Tennessee site, WACKER will be able to keep pace
with the global growth it expects for hyperpure polysilicon. "This
expansion is necessary to meet our customers´ future needs for
top-quality polysilicon to make high-efficiency solar cells," says
Wacker Chemie AG´s CEO Rudolf Staudigl, explaining the investment
decision. According to Staudigl, virtually the entire output of the
Tennessee site has been contractually secured for 2014.

"I'm pleased to see the progress Wacker is making with its investment
in Tennessee and by the confidence Wacker is showing in Tennessee's
workforce," said Governor Bill Haslam. "This groundbreaking is an
important part of our goal to make Tennessee the number one location
in the Southeast for high quality jobs."

WACKER manufactured over 30,000 metric tons of hyperpure polysilicon
in 2010, making it one of the world´s top producers. With two
polysilicon facilities currently under construction in Nünchritz and
Cleveland, WACKER is reinforcing its position as a leading supplier
of high-quality semiconductor- and solar-grade silicon.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on
assumptions and estimates of WACKER´s Executive Board. Although we
assume the expectations in these forwardlooking statements are
realistic, we cannot guarantee they will prove to be correct. The
assumptions may harbor risks and uncertainties that may cause the
actual figures to differ considerably from the forward-looking
statements. Factors that may cause such discrepancies include, among
other things, changes in the economic and business environment,
variations in exchange and interest rates, the introduction of
competing products, lack of acceptance for new products or services,
and changes in corporate strategy. WACKER does not plan to update the
forwardlooking statements, nor does it assume the obligation to do
so.

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Wacker Chemie AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Christof Bachmair
Media Relations & Information
Tel.: +49 (0)89 6279 1830
E-Mail: christof.bachmair@wacker.com

Branche: Chemicals
ISIN: DE000WCH8881
WKN: WCH888
Index: Midcap Market Index, MDAX, CDAX, Classic All Share, HDAX,
Prime All Share
Börsen: Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard