Specialty chemicals company Lanxess is reportedly strengthening its presence in the North American market with a comprehensive investment program. The company says it plans to invest up to $580 million in its asset base there through 2022.
“North America and in particular the U.S. is a key growth market for Lanxess, where we have enlarged our footprint significantly with our recent acquisitions. Now we plan to upgrade our asset base there in order to leverage on its full potential,” says Matthias Zachert, chairman of the board of management of Lanxess during a U.S. visit.
More than $100 million of the total amount will be spent in 2018, with some $50 million at the company’s largest U.S. site in El Dorado, Arkansas, mainly to upgrade the bromine brine exploration network and the site infrastructure and pipelines. Lanxess currently employs approximately 600 people at the site.
According to Lanxess, the company’s total U.S. sales have increased by about 40% from $1.4 billion to $1.9 billion, reportedly the highest number in the company’s history. Lanxess also reports a strong start to 2018; in the first quarter, U.S. sales increased by around 17% to $525 million from $450 million. By acquiring chemicals group Chemtura in 2017, Lanxess says it significantly strengthened its competitive position in the area of lubricant additives and synthetic lubricants for industrial applications. In February 2018, Lanxess purchased the phosphorus chemicals business from Belgian chemicals group Solvay including its U.S. production site in Charleston, South Carolina.
With the acquisitions, Lanxess says it has nearly doubling the number of production sites as well as the number of employees in North America. Lanxess now has 24 production sites and employs some 2,800 staff in North America, with 19 production sites and 2,200 employees in the U.S., according to the company.
For more information, visit: www.lanxess.com
