Lanxess India to Begin Tyre Chemical Production in 2010

Specialty chemicals group Lanxess AG intends to invest 50 million euros in relocating production of rubber chemicals from Thane, in the Indian state of Maharastra to Jhagadia, in Gujarat. Production will begin in 2010 and will supply the rapidly growing Indian tyre market. Lanxess is the only western company to establish such operations in India.

Lanxess will employ about 250 people at the Jhagadia site during its first stage of expansion. The head office of Lanxess India Private Limited will, however, remain in Thane. Jhagadia will become the company’s second production site in India after Madurai in Tamil Nadu, southern India, and will be the larger of the two.

The Asia-Pacific region is of crucial significance to Lanxess, the company reports. In the third quarter of 2007, sales in the region were up 2.2 per cent on the previous year at 325 million euros. Adjusted for currency effects and the activities divested in the previous year, sales grew by 6.0 per cent. This was due in part to the positive development in India, where Lanxess currently employs around 300 people. The Asia-Pacific region’s share of total sales rose from 18.8 per cent to 19.1 per cent.