Lanxess considers 100 kt Nd-BR plant in Asia

ERJ staff report (DS)

Duesseldorf, Germany -- Lanxess has announced that it intends to increase its leading earnings indicator by roughly 80 percent in the coming five years. The speciality chemicals company is targeting EBITDA pre exceptionals of approximately euro 1400 million in 2015 and confirmed its forecast of roughly euro 800 million EBITDA pre exceptionals in 2010.

Lanxess CEO, Axel Heitmann told journalists that the target will be achieved through a combination of organic and external growth. Organic growth will play the more dominant role.

The tyre market is Lanxess' largest customer industry, with an expected annual growth rate of roughly five percent up to 2015. Apart from well-publicised expansions in butyl rubber, Lanxess said it is increasing capacity in Germany, USA and Brazil for neodymium-catalysed butadiene rubber (Nd-BR). The company said demand for Nd-BR is growing at 9 -10 percent annually.

In order to meet expected demand growth in Asia, Lanxess is currently considering building a new production plant for Nd-PBR in Asia, with a capacity of 100,000 to 150,000 metric tons per annum. A feasibility study is currently under way, and a final decision on the project will be made within the next six months.

In addition, the company is planning investments to debottleneck its plants for Nd-PBR  in Dormagen/Germany,

Orange/USA and Cabo/Brazil. Lanxess will

invest roughly euro 20 million to increase production by an additional

50,000 metric tons per annum at the three sites. 

The additional capacities will come on stream between

the first quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012 generating combined additional sales of euro 70 million per

annum and very satisfactory profitability ratios.

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Press release from Lanxess

More on Lanxess' BR plans from ERJ (story titled, Lanxess predicts tight polybutadiene market)