LANXESS enlarges menthol facility

Specialty chemicals company LANXESS commenced work on expanding its menthol facility. The capacity of the plant at the Krefeld-Uerdingen site is to be doubled to meet the increasing demand on the world markets. Completion of the project is scheduled for the first half of 2012. "The additional quantities of thymol, crude menthol and D,I-menthol will allow our long-time contract partner Symrise to enter into long-term supply agreements," said Dr. Hubert Fink, head of the Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit (AII) at LANXESS. This investment is a clear commitment to Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia as an industrial location.

The groundbreaking ceremony on July 20 was attended not only by Fink and a number of LANXESS employees but also by a five-man delegation from Symrise AG, including its CEO, Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram.

LANXESS is – also thanks to the collaboration with Symrise – the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic menthol and thymol. The specialty chemicals company supplies Symrise with menthol and the menthol precursor thymol in the full range of grades, also in purities needed by the pharmaceutical industry.

Symrise turns these products into scents and flavorings for the world market, for example for use in oral hygiene applications and products such as chewing gum and candy. High-grade menthol is also used in cosmetics and numerous pharmaceutical products – in sport balms that have a cooling effect in the event of painful injuries, for instance.