Wacker will add pyrogenic silica

Wacker Chemie plans to spend $150 million to build a pyrogenic silica plant at its facility in Charleston, Tenn. Set to open in the first half of 2019, the plant will have annual capacity of about 13,000 metric tons and create about 50 jobs. As raw material, Wacker will use tetrachlorosilane produced as a by-product at the Charleston site’s polysilicon plant, a $2.5 billion facility that opened earlier this year. Wacker sites in Germany are similarly integrated. The new product is a high-purity silicon dioxide used in elastomers, paints, food, and personal care products.