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• Bundling of production capacities for vulcanization accelerators at sites in Belgium and US;
• South African plant for anti-aging inhibitors to be closed;
• Focus on innovative rubber chemicals.
A central element is the bundling of production processes for vulcanization accelerators, which are used primarily in the tire industry. The North American Bushy Park site is taking over production of the accelerator Vulkacit CZ from the Belgian plant in Kallo. In return, the company is shifting production for the accelerators Vulkacit DZ and Vulkacit NZ from Bushy Park to Kallo. These changes will be implemented by 2014.
The business unit is also streamlining its product range as some products have reached the end of their life cycle. The company is therefore discontinuing production of the vulcanization accelerator Vulkacit MOZ at the Kallo site during 2014. Also the production of the aging inhibitors Vulkanox 3100 and Vulkanox DPPD, which are produced at the Isithebe site in South Africa, will be stopped and the plant will be closed.
“These measures enable us to enhance our efficiency and competitiveness. Moreover, we can focus our portfolio on innovative, sustainable and profitable products in order to accommodate the trend toward increasingly high-tech products within the tire industry also in the future,” says Luis López-Remón, Head of the Rubber Chemicals business unit at LANXESS.
Following the realignment, headcount in Bushy Park will remain unchanged at around 60 while the number of positions in Kallo will decrease by around 45 from currently 205. The site closure in Isithebe will affect some 40 employees. Responsible solutions will be sought for all affected employees in close collaboration with the employee representatives.
The realignment at the Rubber Chemicals business unit is part of a package of measures LANXESS is taking to boost competitiveness at the Performance Chemicals segment's international sites.
The Rubber Chemicals business unit of LANXESS is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of rubber chemicals. These are used primarily by tire manufacturers and producers of technical rubber products. Other major customers include companies in the fuels, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and the mining industries. The business unit employs 560 employees worldwide and has currently production operations at the Leverkusen, Brunsbüttel and Krefeld-Uerdingen sites in Germany as well as in Kallo (Belgium), Bushy Park (USA), Jhagadia (India) and Isithebe (South Africa).
LANXESS (lanxess.com) is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 9.1 billion in 2012 and roughly 17,400 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 50 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals. LANXESS is a member of the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) World and FTSE4Good as well as the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI).
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