ZURICH, July 30 (Reuters) - Swiss chemicals maker Sika

AG, on Tuesday, reported a 9.2% increase in sales for

the first half of the year and reiterated it expects local

currency sales growth of 6-9% for the year.

The company, whose products are used to reinforce and

waterproof building materials, reported sales of 5.83 billion

Swiss francs ($6.54 billion) for the six months ended June, up

from 5.35 billion francs a year earlier.

($1 = 0.8865 Swiss francs)