Lanxess Opens New Central & East Europe Headquarters

Chemical manufacturer Lanxess AG has responded to the growing popularity of Central and Eastern Europe as hubs for tyre manufacturing by establishing a new headquarters for its distribution company Lanxess Central Eastern Europe s.r.o. Located in the Slovakian capital Bratislava, the headquarters officially opened on February 15, and all business activities in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary are now controlled from this location. The company also intends to operate branch offices in Warsaw and Budapest. Previously, Lanxess organised its operations in Central and Eastern Europe through external distribution agencies.

“We expect growth in these countries to outstrip that of Western Europe in the years ahead, so we’ve decided to tap this potential for Lanxess by setting up our own company,” explained Rainier van Roessel, member of the Lanxess AG Board of Management.

All 13 Lanxess business units are active in the four countries, with one of the key areas of operation being high-performance rubbers and rubber chemicals. “We supply our rubber specialties mainly to national and international tyre manufacturers, more and more of whom are expanding their production capacities in central and eastern Europe,” commented Flemming B. Bjoernslev, managing director of Lanxess Central Eastern Europe. High-tech plastics are another cornerstone of Lanxess’ activities in the region, with around half of sales of these products generated by customers from the automotive industry.

A crucial factor in the decision to choose Bratislava as the site for the Lanxess Central Eastern Europe headquarters was its central location. “Bratislava offers us just the right conditions to succeed. From here, we can control our activities efficiently and effectively throughout the entire region,” said Bjoernslev.

The company has initially recruited some 40 new staff for the new distribution company. Around 20 of these will be based in Bratislava, while the others will work in the branch offices and in the field.