Lanxess to add butyl capacity in Belgium
ERJ staff report (DS)
Leverkusen, Germany - Lanxess AG is to expand the production capacity of its butyl rubber plant in Zwijndrecht, Belgium, by 10 percent to meet growing global demand for regular butyl and halobutyl synthetic rubber. The company will invest EUR 20 million to increase capacity by an extra 14,000 metric tons per year. The current capacity of the plant is about 135,000 metric tons per year. The expansion will mainly take place during a scheduled turnaround of the plant in the third quarter of 2011 and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2012. The plant will produce a superior quality of butyl rubber, which underlines LANXESS' standing as the global technology leader for synthetic rubber.
“Overall demand for butyl rubber has returned to pre-crisis levels already this year,†said Axel C. Heitmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS. “And in the coming decade, we expect demand to grow further so that the new capacities in Antwerp and from our upcoming plant in Singapore will be fully absorbed by the market.â€
Lanxess said its Butyl Rubber business unit has annual sales of over EUR 500 million and is part of the Performance Polymers segment. The segment recorded sales of EUR 2,388 million in 2009.
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Press release from Lanxess
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