LANXESS invests Euro 20M in aromatics network

Speciality chemicals company Lanxess is expanding cresol production at the Leverkusen site once again. It plans to further increase capacity for this high-quality intermediate for the global market by some 20% by mid 2013. Among other applications, cresols are widely used in the manufacture of vitamin E, resins and flame-retardants and in the agrochemicals sector.

"This investment of around Euro 20M in extending this facility is another clear statement by Lanxess highlighting the company’s commitment to Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia as an industrial location,” said Werner Breuers, member of the board of management of Lanxess AG. "We expect sustainable market growth with cresols and have aligned our long-term planning to this.”

The expansion is part of the business unit’s long-term asset strategy. "To be able to hold on to our world market position in the future, it will be necessary to consistently continue increasing our productivity. That’s why in the near future we want to boost the capacities of other high-grade intermediates too,” added Hubert Fink, head of the Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit. "This will enable us to share in the growth of our customers and meet their demand for reliable delivery even more effectively.”

In the first expansion step completed in 2010, the company invested around Euro 35M in the aromatics network, increasing capacities by up to 60%.

The Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit belongs to the Advanced Intermediates segment, which achieved total sales in fiscal 2010 of EUR 1,321 million.