LANXESS: Production in Singapore to Start in 2014
Postponement made necessary by drop in demand / New technology for the large-scale project / Bulk order from tire manufacturer Hankook
Due to the continuing global economic crisis, specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG is postponing the construction of its new butyl rubber facility in Singapore. Production is now scheduled to start in 2014. LANXESS will use the time to finish developing an innovative technology for butyl rubber production that will then be used at the new facility. The 100,000 tpa plant originally planned for Singapore, which would have cost up to EUR 400 million to build, had been due on stream in 2012.
Independent of the project postponement, LANXESS will continue to expand its presence in Singapore. The company is currently negotiating with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) with a view to managing the global business of the Butyl Rubber business unit from there in the future. Said Heitmann: “This dynamic city is the hub of our activities in Southeast Asia and continues to play a key role in our highly successful strategy for the Asian region.” The Group currently runs the Southeast Asian business of all its 13 business units from Singapore.
LANXESS is a technology leader in the global market for synthetic rubber and supplies all the leading tire manufacturers and other customers worldwide. The focus is on the premium segment, including numerous new grades of rubber for energy-saving tires with improved running properties such as braking characteristics. A five-year agreement recently signed with South Korean tire manufacturer Hankook underlines the growing importance of the Asian market. This new supply agreement for butyl rubber covers the period from 2010 through 2014. LANXESS already concluded a long-term supply agreement with Hankook, the world’s seventh-largest tire manufacturer, for styrene-butadiene rubber and polybutadiene rubber in 2007. Hankook has a workforce of 14,000 and had sales equivalent to about EUR 2.5 billion in 2008.
Due to the continuing global economic crisis, specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG is postponing the construction of its new butyl rubber facility in Singapore. Production is now scheduled to start in 2014. LANXESS will use the time to finish developing an innovative technology for butyl rubber production that will then be used at the new facility. The 100,000 tpa plant originally planned for Singapore, which would have cost up to EUR 400 million to build, had been due on stream in 2012.
Independent of the project postponement, LANXESS will continue to expand its presence in Singapore. The company is currently negotiating with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) with a view to managing the global business of the Butyl Rubber business unit from there in the future. Said Heitmann: “This dynamic city is the hub of our activities in Southeast Asia and continues to play a key role in our highly successful strategy for the Asian region.” The Group currently runs the Southeast Asian business of all its 13 business units from Singapore.
LANXESS is a technology leader in the global market for synthetic rubber and supplies all the leading tire manufacturers and other customers worldwide. The focus is on the premium segment, including numerous new grades of rubber for energy-saving tires with improved running properties such as braking characteristics. A five-year agreement recently signed with South Korean tire manufacturer Hankook underlines the growing importance of the Asian market. This new supply agreement for butyl rubber covers the period from 2010 through 2014. LANXESS already concluded a long-term supply agreement with Hankook, the world’s seventh-largest tire manufacturer, for styrene-butadiene rubber and polybutadiene rubber in 2007. Hankook has a workforce of 14,000 and had sales equivalent to about EUR 2.5 billion in 2008.
quoted from: New Kaznak
