Merck opens liquid crystals centre in China

Merck inaugurated its newly built Liquid Crystals Center China (LCCC) at Jinqiao Industrial Park in Shanghai, China. The construction of the centre, which integrates the liquid crystal (LC) mixing plant, LC lab and China LC business hub, started earlier this year and now has been completed. Trial operations are also set to begin this month and first deliveries to customers are planned for the first quarter 2014.
 
Bernd Reckmann, Member of the Executive Board of Merck with responsibility for the Performance Materials and Merck Millipore divisions, said, “China is clearly one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing regions worldwide, and a market with excellent future prospects. Following the opening of our liquid crystals application laboratory in 2011 in Shanghai, we are now adding production activities. With this double-digit million Euro investment, Merck is underscoring its market leadership position, which is based not only on technology leadership, but above all on proximity to customers and constructive cooperation with them.”
 
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The new Shanghai mixing plant in LCCC is Merck’s fourth in Asia. Merck currently supplies its customers in China with liquid crystal products from mixing plants in Korea, Taiwan region and Japan. Based in Shanghai at the heart of China’s most important economic region and high-tech electronics industry hub Yangtze River Delta, the LCCC will enable Merck to provide better service to local Chinese customers with shorter lead and delivery times, more application support and optimized quality assurance.
 
Merck’s Liquid Crystals business is expanding rapidly in China, especially in high-quality displays and flat-screen television applications.