German elastomer and silicone specialist Wacker Chemie (Munich; www.wacker.com) and compatriot logistics service provider Finsterwalder Group (Türkheim; www.finsterwalder.com) are expanding their cooperation: by the end of next year, a new 35,000 m² logistics centre for the storage and shipping of silicone products is to be built near the German town of Nünchritz in Saxony. The warehouse will feature spots for more than 57,000 pallets, most of which Wacker will use, the companies said.

The building and the entire infrastructure will be constructed and financed by Finsterwalder. The basis of the cooperation is a long-term logistics contract between the two companies. No financial details of the agreement were disclosed. The total investment is suspected to be in the mid tens of millions of euros.

Wacker and Finsterwalder have been working together for more than 10 years, initially in the transport sector and for around five years in the warehousing and logistics. At its production site in Nünchritz, Wacker makes silicones and polysilicon with around 1,500 employees.

From 2022 onwards, the company plans to produce hybrid polymers and, in addition to silicone sealants, highly dispersed fumed silica and building protection agents, which will be stored in the new logistics centre. Finsterwalder is responsible for delivery, storage and dispatching of the goods.

“We have invested in the expansion of our plant in Nünchritz in recent years. This not only increases our production volume, but also the need for logistics and storage space,” says Jutta Matreux, who heads the Wacker site. “The new logistics centre is therefore essential for our growth.”

Wacker recently presented solid figures for the first half of 2021 and raised its forecasts for the full year to sales of EUR 5.5 bn and an EBITDA of between EUR 0.9 bn and EUR 1.1 bn.