Jun 20 2007
LANXESS is backing innovation and is ramping up investment in research and development following a successful round of restructuring and consolidation. “At approximately EUR 100 million, our R&D budget for 2007 has increased by 15 percent over the previous year. With that investment, we are primarily targeting high-growth markets of the future as well as future technologies that promise a rapid return on investment,” said Dr. Werner Breuers, member of the LANXESS Board of Management, at a press conference in Dusseldorf in the run-up to the K 2007 plastics and rubber trade fair. The company earns a major share of its sales with thermoplastic resins and rubber. By themselves, the Performance Rubber and Engineering Plastics segments contributed more than 50 percent to total sales in 2006.
LANXESS aims to make its investments in research as efficient as possible while maintaining a consistent market focus. To this end, the company emphasizes close cooperation with customers, suppliers and academic research. According to Dr. Breuers, the continuous improvement of production processes is of crucial importance particularly during times of high energy and raw material costs. That is one reason why nearly a quarter of current R&D projects at LANXESS focus on process research. But efficiency in research also means strict project and risk management. “We want to achieve maximum value creation in a short period of time with minimum investments. Accordingly, we expect four-fifths of our research projects to lead to market-ready products within two years,” explained Breuers. “This of course means we have to focus on projects with manageable, medium-sized risks. We can do this primarily by concentrating our efforts on the incremental improvement of existing products and applications. Currently around three-quarters of our R&D projects fall into this category.”
Lustran Polymers – Market approach successfully adapted
The Lustran Polymers business unit of LANXESS successfully adapted its business model, profiting from its unique position in the international market for ABS and SAN. It is ranked number 1 ABS producer in Europe and India, and number 2 in the NAFTA region. Throughout the world Lustran Polymers is focusing its ABS business on products colored to meet customers’ requirements and on specialties, adhering strictly to a price-before-volume strategy. We offer a wide range of products tailored to a variety of specific uses that comply with customers’ exact specifications. “In doing so we are distancing ourselves from many of our competitors whose portfolios cover only a basic range and who generally leave coloring to the processor,” said
Dr. Hans-Joachim Kogelnik, head of Lustran Polymers.
The business of Lustran Polymers has a strong regional orientation, with autonomous management teams empowered to act like local firms. Production capacity and product portfolios as well as research and development activities are all adapted to local conditions. “Already well over 90 percent of the plastics we produce in a region are also sold and used in that region,” adds Kogelnik.
In light of the above-average growth of ABS and SAN in India and the whole Asia region, Lustran Polymers plans to increase capacity at its Indian production sites of Moxi, Katol and Nandesari from 20,000 to 80,000 metric tons in the coming year – with the option of expanding production volume to a total of 100,000 metric tons. In Map Ta Phut in Thailand, an extra 10,000 metric tons p.a. is currently being added to the site’s ABS compounding capacity.
One example of Lustran Polymers' expertise in innovation and development is Triax DP 3157. The online coatable polyamide + ABS blend for automotive body parts with class A surfaces was developed in a joint project with BMW. It is used in the fenders of the BMW 3-series coupé. “The material has met with a very positive response. Numerous projects are already running with well-known OEMs around the world,” announced Kogelnik.
An additional focus of the presentations at K 2007 will be Lustran ST 4566 and Centrex ST 4766. With these new ABS and ASA plastics, matt soft-touch surfaces can be applied to ABS materials by coextrusion or lamination. “With these materials, we are targeting soft-touch components used in the interiors of trucks, buses and cars, as well as the outsides of boats, agricultural machinery and construction vehicles,” explained Kogelnik.
Performance Rubber and Performance Chemicals – Problem solvers for the rubber industry
LANXESS is one of the world’s largest producers of synthetic rubber. The company’s rubber business is divided between the Performance Rubber and Performance Chemicals segments. Rubber materials used nowadays in technically extreme applications must meet increasingly strict requirements. Suppliers in numerous markets are also facing growing cost pressure, which calls for particularly cost-effective rubber products. “At LANXESS, we have the right answer to all these challenges – what’s more, we are highly target-oriented in developing new markets for rubber raw materials and additives,” stated Dr. Günther Weymans, head of the Technical Rubber Products business unit.
According to Weymans, LANXESS produces rubber and rubber chemicals in eight world-scale production facilities in Europe, North America, India, South Africa and now also in China. “Our facilities are ultra-modern and take excellent advantage of economies of scale,” added Weymans. At the same time, the company attaches great importance to steadily expanding its strong position on the global market. Thus, the capacity of the butyl rubber plant in Sarnia, Canada will be boosted by more than 40 percent, while the plant capacity in Antwerp will be increased by about 10 percent. Production of the chloroprene rubber product Baypren is set to increase too. “We are currently applying for a permit to expand our production facility in Dormagen to increase capacity there to 100,000 metric tons a year," said Weymans.
Now more than ever, LANXESS is setting its sights on innovation for its rubber and rubber raw materials business. “Wherever we identify promising business segments, we make an express investment in research and application technology, and that means globally," remarked Weymans. As with its production facilities, the company has a worldwide presence in all key markets with its technical centers and laboratories for application technology. “We are constantly expanding our worldwide research network: another center is currently in the planning for Qingdao, China,” explained Weymans.
Among other new product developments in the rubber division, Weymans mentioned Nanopren in particular. This emulsion styrene butadiene rubber is a gel with a particle size in the nano range. Tires made with a tread compound enhanced with Nanoprene particles display significantly improved grip in dry road conditions and improved abrasion resistance, without compromising on rolling resistance and wet grip.
One of the new products from the Performance Chemicals sector is Renacit 9203. This peptizer makes the mastication of natural rubber easier without carbon black. It was developed for manufacturers who put carbon black as filler material into their rubber mixture only after mastication, but who still want to increase its processability before that point.
For the complete story click here.