Work Starts on Lanxess’ Russia Rubber Facility

The official start to work on Lanxess’ first production facility in Russia, located in Dzerzhinsk in the Nizhny Novgorod region, began on May 13. When completed at the start of 2011 the plant, operated by Lanxess subsidiary Rhein Chemi, will produce rubber chemcials for the Russia and CIS markets.

“Russia and the CIS are key growth markets for us as part of our strategic focus on the BRIC countries. Construction of this plant is a further important step in our long-term strategy, following our official entry onto the Russian market last year,” said Rainier van Roessel, member of the Lanxess Board of Management. “We are currently seeing a gradual recovery of the rubber industry in Russia, which we want to accompany with a targeted, market-oriented investment.” Amongst the key products Lanxess supplies to the Russia and CIS markets are high-performance rubber and rubber chemicals for the tyre and automotive industries.

 
Some 50 new jobs will be created in the medium term at the Dzerzhinsk plant, which will produce up to 1,500 tonnes of Rhenogran and Rhenodiv rubber additives and release agents. These products are used primarily to manufacture tyres and technical rubber products such as hoses and seals. “We expect to see a rise in demand from the Russian car and tyre industries for quality products and we will be able to cater to their needs in the future through our new plant and high-quality, innovative product portfolio. Our rubber additives and release agents enable us to help our customers enhance the quality of their rubber products and boost their position on the global market,” explained Rhein Chemie managing director Anno Borkowsky. “The excellent location in close proximity to our customers and the good infrastructure in the Nizhny Novgorod region were crucial in choosing the site.”

At present Rhein Chemie supplies Russian customers from its plants in Germany, yet parent company Lanxess has maintained a presence in Russia since last year; in March 2009 the ‘OOO Lanxess’ sales office opened in Moscow.