Lanxess to switch Triunfo plant to S-SBR production

Based on the results of a feasibility study, German chemicals firm Lanxess has opted to convert its Triunfo factory in southern Brazil from the manufacture of emulsion styrene butadiene rubber (E-SBR), as used in standard tyres, to solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR), which is used in used in high-performance, green tyres. Lanxess notes that it is the first company to carry out such a conversion.

In future, the Triunfo plant will have a 110,000 tonne annual S-SBR capacity, exactly the same as its current E-SBR capacity. Lanxess will invest 80 million units to switch over, a sum that will be financed from the company’s cash flow. Up to 500 temporary workers will be needed to facilitate the conversion phase, and the production of the latest grades of S-SBR will begin at the end of 2014. Supplies of E-SBR will be maintained from Lanxess’s Duque de Caxias plant in Brazil, which is said to have sufficient production capacity to supply Brazil’s entire E-SBR demand. E-SBR is mainly used in the manufacture and retreading of truck tyres.
 
“We are delighted to announce another major synthetic rubber investment in Brazil, which underscores our commitment to our sites and employees here,” said Lanxess Board member, Werner Breuers, at a press conference in São Paulo on 4 March. “We want to provide our customers with the best technology they deserve in order to fulfil their expansion plans in this important market.”

Over the past two years, Lanxess has increased its global S-SBR and Nd-PBR capacities by 70,000 tonnes per annum. This has been achieved through debottlenecking measures at the company’s Dormagen, Germany, Orange, USA and Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Brazil plants. In addition, the company produces S-SBR at is facility in Port Jérôme, France. Last September Lanxess also broke ground on a new Nd-PBR facility in Singapore; this 200 million euro project will primarily serve the growing Asian tyre industry and have a capacity of 140,000 tonnes per year. Production will start in the first half of 2015.

Overall, Brazil is one of the most successful and fastest-growing markets for Lanxess products. The country accounted for less than one per cent of the company’s global sales in 2005 but now accounts for roughly ten per cent. Following its acquisition of Petroflex in 2008, Lanxess is now one of the largest chemical companies in Brazil.