Specialty chemicals company LANXESS is to expand annual production capacity at its Dormagen site for its ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVM) line sold under the product brands Levapren and Levamelt by 30 percent to 15,000 metric tons. The new capacities are due to be available from the second half of 2012. “With this investment we are responding to rising demand in the wire and cable industry, which manufactures flame-retardant halogen-free sheathing out of Levapren,” says Jürgen Gunther, head of the Specialties business line in the Technical Rubber Products (TRP) business unit. Levapren’s high oil and heat resistance is also opening up applications for the product in automotive engineering. For example, it is used to make seals, hoses and belts. Edited by Constanze Schmitz
