News Release
LANXESS: Asia strategy strengthened
China:
New facility for high-tech plastics inaugurated
Start-up of expanded rubber additive plant
India:
Investment in plastics production
New rubber additive facility starts production
South-East Asia:
Dramatic growth in Indonesia, Thailand and
Vietnam
Shanghai – The LANXESS chemicals group is increasingly backing
profitable growth in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. “This year alone we
will start up three new LANXESS production sites in China,” said Dr.
Axel Heitmann, Chairman of the Management Board of LANXESS AG.
“This will enable us to significantly increase our profitable growth in
China,” declared Heitmann today at an international press conference at
ChinaPlas 2006. ChinaPlas in Shanghai is the biggest plastics trade
show in Asia.
The Asia Pacific region is of central importance for LANXESS. The
company achieved growth of 21 percent here in 2005, compared with
15.8 percent in 2004. Sales grew strongest in the segments of
Performance Rubber, with an increase of almost 30 percent and
Engineering Plastics with an increase of more than 26 percent. The
Performance Chemicals segment boosted business by nearly 13
percent and Chemicals Intermediates raised sales by more than 8
percent. In China alone the company increased its sales by almost 50
percent compared with the previous year. In India, LANXESS achieved
growth of 14 percent.
“This significant development was made possible through the
commissioning of new and additional production plants. That’s why
LANXESS investment in Asia doubled last year,” stated Heitmann. “This
development will continue in 2006.” Last month, LANXESS doubled its
production capacity for polymer-bound chemicals with the opening of a
new plant at the Qingdao site. This means that LANXESS can supply
LANXESS AG
Contact:
Dr. Ralph Esper
Corporate Communications
Corporate Media
51369 Leverkusen
Germany
Phone +49 214 30-71099
Fax +49 214 30-50691
ralph.esper@lanxess.com
Page 1 of 5
almost 5,000 metric tons of the profitable Rhenogran product line to the
Asia Pacific market.
To push its expansion plans in Asia forward, LANXESS will employ up
to 1,000 new people in the region over the next three years. “Roughly
two thirds will be needed for our projects in China alone,” said
Heitmann. LANXESS currently employs about 1,900 people in Asia. In
2005 Asia Pacific’s share of LANXESS’s total sales was around 17
percent.
China: New plant for high-tech plastics in Wuxi
On April 27, 2006 a new production plant for the manufacture of hightech engineering plastics will be inaugurated in China. The SemiCrystalline Products (SCP) business unit invests nearly USD 25 million
(EUR 20 million) in the new facility at the Wuxi site near Shanghai,
which will create jobs for up to 100 new employees.
“This investment supports our clear strategy of backing profitable
growth. Demand in China for high-tech plastics is growing by more than
ten percent every year. Thanks to our new plant in Wuxi we will be able
in the next five years to raise global sales of our Durethan and Pocan
high-tech polymers by 50 percent,” remarked Heitmann.
Market growth for Pocan and Durethan is at around eight percent in Asia
as a whole and at 13 percent in China. Fields of application for these
high-tech plastics include the automotive industry, electrical engineering
and electronics and household goods.
Two further projects are also being pursued this year:
This summer, LANXESS will start up the biggest facility in China for the
manufacture of hydrazine hydrate in Weifang in Shandong Province. To
this end, an existing production unit was dismantled in the USA and
shipped to China. It is currently being assembled in Weifang. This joint
venture with the Weifang Yaxing Chemical Company Ltd. will enable
LANXESS to become a leading supplier for hydrazine hydrate in China.
LANXESS is the first international investor in the new Weifang Industrial
Park.
LANXESS AG
Contact:
Dr. Ralph Esper
Corporate Communications
Corporate Media
51369 Leverkusen
Germany
Phone +49 214 30-71099
Fax +49 214 30-50691
ralph.esper@lanxess.com
Page 2 of 5
Through a joint venture with Chinese partner Tong Feng and the
Chinese chemical manufacturer Xinda, LANXESS is setting up a new
site in Tongling in Anhui Province. Production is scheduled to begin at
the end of 2006. “LANXESS will expand its leading position on the
Chinese rubber chemical market,” stated Heitmann. In Tongling,
LANXESS is also the first western investor.
China is becoming an important technology location
LANXESS AG
Contact:
Dr. Ralph Esper
Corporate Communications
Corporate Media
51369 Leverkusen
Germany
Phone +49 214 30-71099
Fax +49 214 30-50691
ralph.esper@lanxess.com
Page 3 of 5
Alongside its production activities, LANXESS is also strengthening its
technical competence in China. Last year the Technical Rubber
Products business unit opened a new technology center in Shanghai to
further develop technical rubber. This is the second development center
to be established in the Shanghai area to go with the biggest research
and development center for leather products in Asia which LANXESS
operates in nearby Wuxi. “China is becoming increasingly important for
us as a technology location,” said Heitmann.
India: Capacity expansion to share in strong growth
“In India we dispose of a very strong market position, especially in the
technical thermoplastics business. Here we are a leading supplier,”
remarked Heitmann. To consolidate this position and to continue to
share in the double-digit growth of the ABS market, annual capacity for
ABS production at the Moxi, Katol and Nandesari sites will be increased
from 20,000 metric tons to 80,000 metric tons in the next two years. This
production volume can later be increased by an additional 25 percent to
100,000 metric tons.
At the new production site in Madurai LANXESS is set to begin full
series production of rubber additives of Rhenodiv grades with immediate
effect. “As a result of this project, we will be able to meet the rapidly
increasing demand of Indian tire producers,” noted Heitmann.
Thailand: Leading in pre-colored ABS plastics
In Thailand LANXESS was able to increase sales by around 40 percent
in 2005. Most of LANXESS’s sales are accounted for by the Styrenic
Resins Business Unit. From its ultra-modern ABS facility here,
LANXESS serves the regional market, including China. With a share of
50 percent, this is the world’s biggest and fastest growing market. China
is also the largest ABS importer in the world. “Our facility in Thailand is
working at full capacity. The volume we scheduled for 2006 is already
sold out,” said Heitmann. “We have come significantly closer to our
vision of becoming a leading supplier for ABS specialties and precolored ABS plastics in the whole of Asia.”
Japan: Expansion in automotive and tire markets
LANXESS AG
Contact:
Dr. Ralph Esper
Corporate Communications
Corporate Media
51369 Leverkusen
Germany
Phone +49 214 30-71099
Fax +49 214 30-50691
ralph.esper@lanxess.com
Page 4 of 5
Japan is a strategically important market for LANXESS. The company
supplies a third of the rubber needed for Japanese tire production. “We
intend to defend and expand this position in future,” said Heitmann. In
Japan LANXESS is very well positioned with all its business units. “In
spite of considerable pressure on prices and unfavorable developments
in the energy and raw materials sector we have been able to increase
business in Japan by more than four percent,” added Heitmann.
Australia: Important market for inorganic pigments
LANXESS has also been able to increase profitability in the mature
market of Australia. Through the rigorous application of the global “price
before volume” strategy, unprofitable sales have been purposefully
eliminated. Despite a slight reduction in sales of less than two percent,
the bottom-line improved significantly. The traditionally strong Inorganic
Pigments business unit was able to further consolidate its market
position. The company’s iron oxide products formulation in Sydney
made a significant contribution to this. From here, the whole of the
Australian and Oceanic market is served cost-effectively.
South-East Asia: Strong sales growth
The LANXESS headquarters in Singapore is responsible for sales and
marketing in the South-East Asian markets.
“Some markets showed great growth in 2005, such as Indonesia, where
LANXESS made gains of almost 80 percent, and Vietnam where we
achieved a sales growth of more than 40 percent. We are currently
exploring other options, such as setting up an independent marketing
center in South Korea,” stated Heitmann. This market is becoming
steadily more important for LANXESS, with continuous two-digit growth
rates.
Focus on Asia of central strategic significance
“The alignment of our company is comparable with a compass needle. It
points to where the forces of attraction – in other words, potential
profitable growth – are at their strongest. And that is currently in Asia,”
said Heitmann. That is why LANXESS is presenting itself for the first
time in its history as a complete company at Chinaplas 2006, the largest
and most important fair for the plastics and rubber industry, which is
taking place in Shanghai from April 26 to 29. LANXESS is thereby
underlining the strategic importance that the Asian market has for its
business development.
With its extensive product portfolio of polymers and basic, specialty and
fine chemicals and its some 18,300 employees, LANXESS is one of the
leading suppliers of chemicals and polymers in Europe.
Information for editors:
All our news releases and photos can be found on the LANXESS
homepage at www.lanxess.com under the “Press” button.
Leverkusen, April 26, 2006
re
(2006-0092E)
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts
made by LANXESS AG management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation,
development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no
liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or
developments.
LANXESS AG
Contact:
Dr. Ralph Esper
Corporate Communications
Corporate Media
51369 Leverkusen
Germany
Phone +49 214 30-71099
Fax +49 214 30-50691
ralph.esper@lanxess.com
Page 5 of 5