Lanxess Reducing Butyl Rubber Production in Belgium & Canada

Due to declining demand for butyl rubber, Lanxess AG has elected to reduce production of the product at its Sarnia, Canada, and Zwijndrecht, Belgium facilities. In the coming months the factories belonging to the Butyl Rubber business unit will operate at reduced levels of capacity or will be temporarily shut down, perhaps for a duration of several weeks. Should shutdowns occur, the time will be used for routine maintenance work. About 360 employees in total will be affected by the measures. According to the company, in Canada a number of flexible working arrangements, such as a reduction of overtime and use of annual leave, will be used, while in Belgium employees will be placed on a short-time working arrangement.

“These measures underline our commitment to reduce costs and control inventory levels,” said Ron Commander, head of the Butyl Rubber business unit. “We have also taken steps to ensure our customers will still have an uninterrupted supply of high-quality products.”

This latest news comes on top of the company’s already announced decision to postpone groundbreaking its new butyl rubber plant in Singapore from January 2009 to some time in Autumn. The plant is now expected to begin production in 2012.