International. Specialty chemical company Lanxess revealed that over the next three years its Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit will invest about 100 million euros in the expansion of chemical intermediate production facilities.
Approximately €40 million will be invested in the Leverkusen and Krefeld-Uerdingen sites in the land of North Rhine-Westphalia. The remainder will be used to expand facilities in Brunsbüttel (federal state of Schleswig-Holstein) and Antwerp (Belgium). The expansion project is scheduled to be completed in 2020.
"Organic growth is a key success factor as Lanxess moves forward. This investment program accompanies the dynamic development of our clients and their sectors. A high proportion of the planned new capabilities are already supported by customer orders. At the same time, we are also strengthening our sites, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia," said Hubert Fink, member of the Board of Directors of Lanxess.
At the Krefeld-Uerdingen headquarters, the plan is to expand the production facilities for trimethylolpropane, hexanediol and menthol to accommodate the growing demand in global markets. Trimethylolpropane and hexanediol are important for products in the automotive, furniture and construction industries, for example. Lanxess had already begun to gradually increase the capacity of these products in recent years. Now the company is planning new expansion measures. Construction work will begin in the coming year.
At the Leverkusen plant, capacity expansion for special amines is scheduled to begin this year. The company said it will significantly increase the capacity of MEA's plant in Brunsbüttel over the course of the year and invest up to 15 million euros for this purpose. The abbreviation MEA stands for 2-methyl-6-ethylaniline, which is mainly required as a precursor of herbicides for crop protection.
At the Kallo/Antwerp headquarters in Belgium, Lanxess will invest a figure of half a million euros to expand its rubber chemical production capacity.
