Evonik Industries AG, the German industrial corporation recently announced an investment amounting to several million euros in the development of a multi-purpose facility at the Geesthacht location of the company. The facility is to be situated 30 km outside the city of Hamburg in North Germany.
The company said that the additional capacity will be utilized for fostering the Polymer VS and Polymer ST brands under which Evonik sells a variety of silicones and silane-terminated polymers. The products find application in adhesives for wound care, parquet adhesives and encapsulation applications in electronics.
In an official press release published by Evonik, Dietmar Schaefer, Interface and Performance Business Line Head has been quoted to say that the investment for the development of the Geesthacht site holds strategic significance for the company as it helps to strengthen Evonik’s focus on innovative specialty chemical products.
At the new plant, which is being planned so as to be operational by the end of 2019, a facility for filling truck tanks is also built besides the increase in production capacity. According to the head of the Polymer and Construction Specialties Product Line at Evonik, Sabine Giessler-Blank, the facility for filling tanks will simplify and increase efficiency of storage and delivery for Evonik’s customers. She added that the increase in production capacity will create space for the development of new products at Evonik, enabling the company to enhance its performance for its customers and to respond better to future demands in the sealants and adhesives market.
Evonik plans for the Geesthacht site to focus on silicone and nanotechnology. The site employs around 100 people and produces silica-based nanomaterials that are used in fiber composites as property-enhancing additives, which in turn are used in the automotive and aerospace industry. The silane-terminated polymers produced at the site as well as the condensation-and addition-curing silicones are used as binders in electronics, adhesives and sealants and medical applications.
