New Lanxess plant to service swelling Russian tyre market

Russia is currently a growth market for specialty chemicals group Lanxess. In the first nine months of 2011 the company enjoyed sales of close to 50 million euros there, more than twice what it earned in the whole of 2009. To capitalise on the expanding Russian automotive and tyre industries, Lanxess has now decided to invest in a new facility in Lipetsk, some 300 miles southeast of Moscow. Construction of the plant, which will be operated by Lanxess’ Rhein Chemie subsidiary, is set to start early this year and production is scheduled to commence during the first half of 2013. The site will be built at a cost of five million euros and will employ around 40 people in the medium term.

Initially the new plant will produce up to 1,500 tonnes of Rhenogran rubber additives and around 500 tonnes of Rhenodiv release agents. Both of these products are used in tyre manufacture as well as in the production of technical rubber products such as hoses and seals. In 2016 a facility for manufacturing bladders used in tyre production will enter service at the Lipetsk site; this unit will be capable of turning out up to 80,000 Rhenoshape bladders each year.

“Russia and the CIS are key growth markets for us as part of our strategic focus on the BRICS countries and global megatrends such as mobility,” stated Lanxess Board of Management member Rainier van Roessel. “By building this site we want to benefit directly from the potential this region offers.” Lanxess claims that studies show Russia will become Europe’s largest passenger car market by 2016, with more than three million vehicles produced there.

Anno Borkowsky, managing director of Rhein Chemie GmbH, said the Lipetsk Industrial Park’s “excellent location in close proximity to our customers” and “good infrastructure” were “crucial” in the decision to build there. “The company had originally planned to build the site in Dzerzhinsk,” he elaborated. “But there, the development of the industrial region has been so much delayed that we had to look for alternatives to be able to quickly meet the high demand for our products…We are seeing 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.”

Lanxess has been present in Russia through its Moscow-based sales company, OOO Lanxess, since March 2009. At present the company employs approximately 30 people in Russia.