Merck : Darmstadt, Germany, Expands and Modernizes Pigments Production

• Investment program will expand production capacity and enhance manufacturing processes
• Topping out ceremony for new Silica flake production facilities

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, is significantly expanding its global production capacities and optimizing its manufacturing processes for effect pigments. Around 750 employees work at the Gernsheim site, which is also home to the company's largest pigment production facility worldwide. The new facilities will significantly increase production capacities for silicon dioxide flakes, a special substrate for a whole range of unique effect pigments. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany celebrated the topping out of the new production facility, a traditional ceremony marking the placement of the last beam in a structure, in Gernsheim end of last month. The investment of 28 million Euro is part of a series of initiatives to further expand the company's pigments business.

'This investment will help us to even better serve our customers' needs strengthening our role as a leading manufacturer of premium-quality effect pigments,' says Dorothea Wenzel, Head of Surface Solutions at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. 'Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany looks back at an extensive tradition in these specialty markets, as 2019 marks the 60th anniversary of our pigments business. We are now very much looking forward to adding additional exciting chapters to this successful history.'

The company's silica-based Colorstream^® and Xirona^® product ranges for automotive coatings and color cosmetics were exceptionally well received and perfectly met recent market trends. These pigments provide a unique color shift depending on the angle of observation, enabling eye-catching formulations for coatings and cosmetics manufacturers. Upon completion, the new facilities will substantially increase the output of silica substrate and sustainably expand the supply capabilities for these sought-after effect pigments. The new production line is planned to begin operations in the second half of 2021.

The Surface Solutions business unit is part of Performance Materials at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. This business sector comprises the specialty chemicals business of the company and supplies solutions for displays, computer chips and surfaces of every kind. Performance Materials has a strategic focus on the electronics industry and serves attractive growth markets in the automotive and cosmetics industries.