|
|
|
|
   
|
||||||
|
|
2008-03-01
Manufacturing News
Specialty chemicals group Lanxess to make record investment Lanxess to make the biggest single investment in a new chemicals production site for synthetic rubber to be built at the chemical park on Jurong Island.
The strategic investment for a growing world market by specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG has earmarked a record amount of EUR 400 million for this business venture. From 2011, the site in Singapore will produce up to 100,000 tons of butyl rubber annually, making the LANXESS plant the largest facility of its type in Asia. Construction is due to begin in the first quarter of 2009 and will be completed by the end of 2010. Some 200 new jobs will initially be created. The new chemicals facility will produce butyl and halobutyl, synthetic rubbers that are used in the production of tires. “By setting up this new location in Singapore, LANXESS is responding to the significant growth in global demand for butyl rubber,” said Chairman of the LANXESS Board of Management Axel C. Heitmann at an international press conference in Singapore. “The boom in Asia as an economic region is playing a particularly important role in this,” added Heitmann. Market analyses confirm that the global market for butyl rubber will rise steadily in the coming years. Growth is most pronounced in China, where it corresponds to six percent annually, and in India, where it is more than eight percent. “With the new capacities, we will consolidate the good market position we already occupy,” said Heitmann.
LANXESS began evaluating potential locations in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in June 2007. The Asian city state won over the competition from Malaysia and Thailand due to its excellent infrastructure, large sea port, and very good raw materials supply. Additional arguments in favor of Singapore were the highly qualified specialists and logistics arrangements. “Our new site in Singapore is the world’s first new facility for butyl rubber to be built since the beginning of the new millennium,” said Heitmann. The JTC Corporation, an authorized agent of the Singapore Ministry for Trade and Industry, has offered LANXESS attractive terms for the site on Jurong Island that covers approximately 20,000 square meters. Construction will start at the beginning of 2009, with 150 engineers and around 1,500 workmen to be employed on the building site. The facility is scheduled to start production in 2011. Some 10 to 15 percent of the construction expenditures are expected to go into installing pioneering environmental technologies. Already today, LANXESS is a global market leader in the synthetic rubber business. In the past two years, the company significantly expanded its production rubber chemicals facilities in Zwijndrecht, Belgium, and Sarnia, Canada. The Singapore site will complete the global production network. In combination with the completion of the latest expansion phase in Sarnia, the company will have an annual capacity totaling 280,000 metric tons of butyl rubber in 2010. Up until now, LANXESS’s representation in Singapore has comprised a sales center with more than 70 staff that manages all its chemicals business for the region. The record investment at the new production site in the Jurong Island Chemical Park will create more than 200 new highly-skilled jobs. The global headquarters of the Butyl Rubber business unit is in Switzerland. The company is one of the biggest manufacturers of butyl and polybutadiene rubber, which is used primarily for the production of car and truck tires. In addition to regular butyl rubber, halogenated products, particularly bromobutyl rubber, are becoming increasingly important. Tire inner liners – the innermost, air- and humidity-impermeable layer of a tubeless tire – are the major area of application for halobutyl rubber. They keep tire pressure constant over a long period. This makes vehicles safer and ensures they consume less fuel and therefore produce fewer harmful emissions. Market growth is being accelerated in particular by the expansion of radial tire production in Asia. The Butyl Rubber business unit is worldwide one of the leading producers of synthetic rubber, with annual sales of over EUR 500 million, and is part of the Performance Polymers segment. The segment recorded sales of EUR 1,996 million in the first nine months of 2007. LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company, with approximately 14,500 employees in 21 countries around the world. The company has operations at 47 sites worldwide. LANXESS’s core business comprises the development, manufacture and sale of specialty chemicals, plastics, rubber and intermediates. Got a Cool Job in Rubber Molding? - Post Jobs to Dedicated Engineering Portal Now! See all the Press Releases from LANXESS sites. Read a recent article about -
Find out how to protect your network from hackers, malware, and other malicious attacks with No.1 AdAware Plus! Read more industry news.  E-mail this page to a friend
|
|
Special Topics - SABIC Innovative Plastics to produce reinforced plastics composites in Korea - Small Quantity Specailist - Order Online - Plastics, Metals, Aluminum, Stainless, Tool Steel and ... - Industrial Packaging Supplies - Save On Scissor Lifts - Fork Lifts and Accessories - Industrial Conveyers - Your Direct Source for Material Handling Equipment - On-Line Corporate Training Module for Stress Reduction and Cognitive Change Program
All Rights Reserved. For permission to reproduce any contents of this
web site, please contact our Syndication department: Log onto HELP
|
|
