The chemical company Wacker has slipped deep into the red with a record loss of 800 million euros in 2025. In addition to poor business, this was due to very high impairments and the costs of the cost-cutting program with which the Group is responding to the crisis. In contrast, sales fell by a comparatively moderate four percent to just under 5.5 billion euros, as the Munich-based company announced.
German chemical industry in deep crisis
Wacker is, among other things, a leading international producer of polysilicon for the chip industry; its largest site is the main plant in Burghausen, Upper Bavaria, with around 8,000 employees. Wacker also has a large plant in Nünchritz, Saxony, with around 1,500 employees.
In 2024, the Group generated a net profit of just under 261 million euros. The chemical industry in Germany is in crisis virtually across the board, due both to falling demand on the global markets and the competitive disadvantage of high German energy prices. According to the company, Wacker consumes just under one percent of all electricity in Germany.
