Lanxess AG continues to target growth. During the next three years, its business unit Advanced Industrial Intermediates will be investing some €100 million in expanding production facilities for chemical intermediates.
Around €40 million each will be invested in the Leverkusen and Krefeld-Uerdingen sites in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The rest will be used to expand the facilities in Brunsbüttel (federal state of Schleswig-Holstein), and Antwerp (Belgium). The expansion project is scheduled for completion by 2020.
“Organic growth is a key success factor as new Lanxess heads forward. This investment program accompanies the dynamic development of our customers and their sectors. A high proportion of the planned new capacities is already backed by customers’ orders. At the same time, we are also strengthening our sites, particularly in North Rhine-Westphalia,” says Hubert Fink, member of the Board of Management of Lanxess AG.
At the Krefeld-Uerdingen site, the plan is to expand production facilities for trimethylolpropane, hexanediol and menthols to accommodate growing demand on global markets. Trimethylolpropane and hexanediol are important for products in the automotive, furniture and construction industries, for example. Synthetic menthol is a key component of many aromas and pharmaceutical products. Lanxess had already started gradually increasing the capacities for these products in recent years. Now the company is planning new expansion measures. Construction work is set to commence during the coming year.
At the Leverkusen site capacity expansion for special amines is scheduled to start this year. Special amines are mainly used as intermediates for further processing and ultimately in the automotive sector.
Lanxess will considerably increase the capacity of the 2-methyl-6-ethylaniline (MEA) plant at Brunsbüttel in the course of the year and will invest up to €15 million for this purpose. MEA is required mainly as a precursor for crop protection herbicides.
At the Kallo/Antwerp site in Belgium, Lanxess will be investing a mid-single digit euro million figure to expand its production capacities for rubber chemicals.
By Gerald Ondrey
Source: Chemical Engineering
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