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

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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.

Further inquiry note:
Christof Bachmair
Media Relations & Information
Tel.: +49 (0)89 6279 1830
E-Mail: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
WWW: http://www.wacker.com
sector: Chemicals
ISIN: DE000WCH8881
indexes: Midcap Market Index, MDAX, CDAX, Classic All Share, HDAX, Prime All
Share
stockmarkets: regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt
language: English

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