Lanxess to announce rubber partner in November

Nuremberg, Germany – Speciality rubber manufacturer Lanxess will announce the company it is to partner with in the rubber business in early November, a source close to Lanxess told ERJ.

The partnership will mark the third and final phase of the company’s realignment programme which started in November 2014 in a bid to improve performance.

Saudi Aramco is reportedly among the leading potential partners for Lanxess, with other analysts suggesting that Russian petrochemical group Sibur is also in the frame.

“The third phase will focus on improving the competitiveness of the business portfolio, especially through cooperations in the rubber business. Lanxess is currently in talks with potential partners and will report on further steps in the second half of 2015,” the company announced in May.

The second phase, launched earlier in March, aims at improving operational competitiveness. This included the closure of an EPDM plant in, Marl, Germany and realignment of production networks for EPDM and neodymium-based performance butadiene rubber (Nd-PBR).

Lanxess is currently in talks with both customers and employees about the closure of its EPDM plant in Marl, and will shift production elsewhere.

The 70 kilotonne per annum (Ktpa) EPDM plant, said the source, will close down on schedule at the end of 2015, concluding the realignment programme.