Dow Corning and WACKER Celebrate the Groundbreaking of New Siloxane Facility in China

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Zhangjiagang (China) (euro adhoc) - Construction of China’s largest siloxane
facility officially began following the groundbreaking ceremony today at the
site in Zhangjiagang, China. Representatives from Dow Corning Corporation
(Midland, Michigan, USA) and Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany) celebrated this
milestone with their manufacturing joint venture company, Dow Corning
(Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd. This world-class scale siloxane manufacturing facility
will be located in the Jiangsu Yangtze River Chemical Industrial Park,
Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province. Also included in the joint venture project
is a fumed silica plant, which together will support the vigorous growth and
demand for silicone materials of both the Chinese and Asian markets. The
integrated site in Zhangjiagang will also house other facilities owned and
operated separately by Dow Corning and WACKER for the manufacture of silicone
finished products.

Capacities for siloxane and fumed silica together are planned to be
approximately 200,000 metric tons per year. It is expected that full operational
capacity will be phased in by the end of the decade. The fumed silica plant is
expected to start production by the end of 2007. Total investment for the joint
venture projects is estimated to exceed 600 million U.S. dollars in the coming
years.

Dr. Stephanie Burns, Chairman, President & CEO of Dow Corning Corporation, and
Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker, President & CEO of WACKER Group were onsite today to
inaugurate the new facility along with Mr. Huang Qin, Party Secretary of the
Zhangjiagang City and Mr. Tan Zhu Zhou, Honorary Chairman of the China Petroleum
and Chemical Industry Association. The ceremony was attended by more than 300
guests including key executives from WACKER, Dow Corning and government
officials from Beijing, Zhangjiagang and Jiangsu province, consultants and
business partners, as well as representatives from companies operating in the
chemical park.

In a joint statement, Dr. Burns and Dr. Wacker emphasized the strategic
importance of the new joint venture projects: "The China silicone market has
great potential to grow rapidly as it moves toward a mature international
market. It is our goal to leverage the cost and quality advantages of an
integrated site to support the development of a world class silicone industry in
China and to benefit our respective customers."

Dow Corning and WACKER each have had a long presence in the Chinese market and
are strongly committed to the long-term development and leadership in production
in China.

Mr. Huang Qin, Party Secretary of the Zhangjiagang City, said in his
congratulatory speech, "We are very grateful to see global companies such as Dow
Corning and WACKER decide to increase their investment in China.
Zhangjiagang is very pleased to have this opportunity to host this world-class
silicone manufacturing facility to bring further economic and social development
to the local community."

The joint venture facilities to produce siloxanes and fumed silica will bring in
state-of-the-art process and technology and set a high standard for the silicone
industry in China. This includes large scale reactor technology, advanced
processes for raw material efficiency, a highly energy efficient design and
environmental controls technology. These technologies have been in use in
similar manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Europe, and proven to produce high
yield and quality output in an environmentally friendly way. The plant will
source raw materials locally where appropriate, making this a highly
cost-competitive facility.

In addition to improving local manufacturing technology and quality, the project
is expected to reflect "best-in-class" environmental measures - in line with the
commitments to Environmental, Health & Safety and sustainable development.

Dow Corning and WACKER will continue independently to serve their respective
customers. Both companies will develop and operate separate manufacturing
facilities for finished products at the integrated site in Zhangjiagang.

About Siloxane and Fumed Silica
Siloxane is a key starting material for the production of silicones. Major
silicone application industries include: construction, chemicals, cosmetics,
textiles, automotive, paper and electronics. Fumed silica is used as an active
filler in silicone elastomers, as a viscosity-adjusting agent in coatings,
printing inks, adhesives, unsaturated polyester resins and plastisols or as a
flow aid, for example in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food-processing
industries.

About WACKER
WACKER (www.wacker.com) is a globally operating chemical company headquartered
in Munich, Germany. With a wide range of state-of-the-art specialty products,
WACKER is a leader in numerous industrial sectors. Its products support
countless high-growth end-user sectors such as photovoltaics, electronics,
pharmaceuticals and household/personal care products. The WACKER Group posted
sales of around EUR 2.76 billion in 2005, of which some 80 percent were
generated outside Germany. WACKER employs around 14,400 people at 22 production
sites in Europe, the Americas and Asia, and about 100 sales offices worldwide.
Wacker Chemie AG is listed at the Frankfurt (Germany) Stock Exchange (ISIN:
DE000WCH8881).

About Dow Corning
Dow Corning (www.dowcorning.com) provides performance-enhancing solutions to
serve the diverse needs of more than 25,000 customers worldwide. A global leader
in silicon-based technology and innovation, offering more than 7,000 products
and services, Dow Corning is equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company and
Corning, Incorporated. More than half of Dow Corning’s annual sales are outside
the United States. It recorded $3.88 billion in global sales in 2005.

Further inquiry note:
Wacker Chemie AG:
Christof Bachmair
+49 (0)89 6279 1619
[email protected]
Jessica He (China)
Phone: +86 21 6100 3588
[email protected]

Dow Corning:
Mary Lou Benecke (U.S.)
Tel.: +1 989-496-8689
[email protected]
Liliana Ng (China)
Tel.: +852 28350387
[email protected]

end of announcement euro adhoc 08.09.2006 10:52:12
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emitter: 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
ISIN: DE000WCH8881
indexes: CDAX, MDAX
stockmarkets: official dealing/prime standard: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, free
trade: Börse Berlin-Bremen, Hamburger Wertpapierbörse,
Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse, Börse Düsseldorf,
Bayerische Börse
sector: Chemicals
language: English

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