Lanxess: Focus on Asia

As in previous years, Lanxess will continue to strengthen its market position in Asia and above all in China. "We want to benefit from the huge opportunities offered by the Asian market. This is one of Lanxess' key strategic goals," said Dr. Werner Breuers, member of the Board of Management speaking to international journalists at a press conference in Düsseldorf ahead of the K 2010 plastics fair. One of the main areas of the company's investment in Asia is the Performance Polymers segment, which combines the rubber business with that of thermoplastics. In 2009, this segment alone accounted for nearly half the Group's sales.

In Singapore, for example, work recently began on building a plant for the production of butyl rubber, which is due to go on stream in 2013. A total of EUR 400 million has been set aside for this project. In Nantong near Shanghai, Lanxess, together with TSRC Corporation, is building a facility for NBR rubber at a cost of around EUR 36 million. It is scheduled to begin production in 2012. At its production site of Jhagadia in India, the construction of a compounding plant for the two engineering plastics Durethan (polyamide) and Pocan (polybutylene terephthalate) is due to commence operation at the beginning of 2012. The cost of this investment is more than EUR 10 million.