EANS-News: WACKER Starts Polysilicon Production at its Nünchritz Site

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Company Information

Subtitle: - New production facilities boost WACKER's annual capacity
by 15,000 metric tons - Investment of some €900 million creates more
than 500 new jobs at Nünchritz plant - WACKER CEO Rudolf Staudigl:
“Production started ahead of schedule thanks to our extensive
technological expertise and our experienced engineering and
production teams”

Nünchritz (euro adhoc) - October 10, 2011 - Wacker Chemie AG has
begun producing hyperpure polycrystalline silicon at its Nünchritz
site, the Munich-based Group announced today. First deposition
reactors at the new production complex have already ramped up
production of high-quality polysilicon for sale. The full nominal
capacity of some 15,000 metric tons annually is expected to be
operational in the second quarter of 2012. The start of production is
three months earlier than WACKER's very ambitious original timetable.
All in all, WACKER has invested about EUR900 million in these new
production facilities — creating more than 500 new jobs as a result.

Rudolf Staudigl, President and CEO of Wacker Chemie AG, explained to
journalists in Nünchritz on Monday: "This expansion of capacity is
instrumental to continue meeting our customers´ strong demand for
top-quality and highly efficient solar-grade polysilicon in the years
to come. Our extensive technological expertise as well as our highly
experienced teams of engineers and production staff allowed us to
initiate production sooner than expected."

As previously announced, WACKER decided in March of this year to rise
production output at the Nünchritz site from an initial target of
10,000 metric tons to 15,000 metric tons per year. This rise in
capacity will be achieved by taking debottlenecking measures within
the integrated production network at the site. WACKER´s entire
polysilicon output, including that from Nünchritz, is almost
completely under contract until the end of 2015.

The new production complex utilizes highly integrated material flows.
This means that manufacturing by-products are reprocessed and then
reused as starting materials in the value chain. Doing so lowers
costs while conserving resources, and, as a consequence, sharpens
WACKER's competitive edge in polysilicon production.

WACKER targets to produce more than 33,000 metric tons of hyperpure
polycrystalline silicon in 2011 — making it one of the largest
manufacturers in the world. Thanks to its new production complex in
Nünchritz and the polysilicon site currently under construction in
Charleston (Tennessee, USA), WACKER is strenghtening its position as
a leading manufacturer of high-quality semiconductor silicon and
solar silicon.

WACKER in Nünchritz Founded as a chemical facility in 1900, the
Nünchritz site became part of the WACKER Group in 1998. Approximately
EUR1.4 billion have been invested in the Nünchritz plant in the
meantime, making it one of the world's largest and most modern
production sites for silicones and hyperpure polycrystalline silicon.
More than 1,400 people work at WACKER Nünchritz.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on
assumptions and estimates of WACKER´s Executive Board. Although we
assume the expectations in these forward-looking 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
forward-looking statements, nor does it assume the obligation to do
so.

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

end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: Wacker Chemie AG
Hanns-Seidel-Platz 4
D-81737 München
phone: +49 (0) 89 6279 01
FAX: +49 (0) 89 6279 1770
mail: info@wacker.com
WWW: http://www.wacker.com
sector: Chemicals
ISIN: DE000WCH8881
indexes: MDAX, CDAX, Prime All Share
stockmarkets: regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt, free trade: Hamburg,
Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Hannover, München, regulated dealing: Berlin
language: English