Q & A

"Wacker Sees Great Potential in India Due to Constant Growth in Demand"

Posted on 28 January, 2010 | Tags:

What are the facilities that will be offered by the WACKER's Technical Center for the Indian market?
Wacker's technical center which is located at Goregaon, a suburb of Mumbai will act as a regional competence center for developments and applications in the construction, coatings, plastics and textile coatings industry, the main focus being on construction polymers, silicone emulsions, sealants, silanes and silicone resins. This center will offer its customers support in developing new products and product applications for local requirements. It will help local customers and business partners develop innovative products and applications for the Indian market. To provide the Indian building trade with the necessary expertise in high-quality construction chemicals, the technical center also features a dedicated training facility. It will provide an opportunity to learn about all the relevant aspects of modern polymer and silicone chemistry along with related applications.

What is the bandwidth of the products offered by your company in India?
The main focus of wacker's investments in India is on silicone and polymer products. Key markets in India are the textile, personal care, construction, coatings, adhesives and packaging sectors. Especially the construction sector in India is booming and offers a lot of opportunities for Wacker's sophisticated construction products. Examples are modern building techniques and construction materials such as energy saving exterior insulation systems for buildings, thin-bed tile adhesives and self-leveling flooring compounds. 

How do you rate the growth opportunities in the Indian markets vis-à-vis other emerging markets like China?
Wacker sees further great potential in India, especially in the area of polymer binders for modern construction applications where there has been double-digit growth in India in recent years just like in China. Altogether, Wacker has currently about 140 employees onboard in India. This means the workforce in India has virtually doubled over the last five years, due to the constant growth in demand. Consequently, it intends to sustainably strengthen its position in India by further expanding its business activities there in the future.

What are the issues and challenges with Indian market your company may have to cope up with? 
India is an emerging country, and thus, many markets and industries are currently in the process of growing and developing. For instance, building techniques and technologies in construction are not yet as advanced as we find in Western Europe or North America. Therefore, one of our main challenges is to create awareness for and convey know-how on modern building methods, product technologies and internationally recognized quality standards. We are confident that these proven strengths will enable our further business success also here in India.

What are the futures plans of the Wacker group in India?
We have to move closer to our customer by intensifying our local sales network, getting customers involved in our technical centers and helping them to leverage our products into their goods and services. Thereby, we want to further consolidate and expand our market position and grow together with our customers.

Which are the other countries Wacker will offer the services through this technical center?
Wacker has set up a global network of technical centers to boast state-of-the-art applications labs, offering customers around the globe the best possible solutions for their needs. Apart from Wacker's customers in India, the new center in Mumbai will also serve to more closely support regional customers in Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

 

Arno von der Eltz President, Wacker Polymers.