Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is strengthening its presence in the growth market of North America with a comprehensive investment program. The company 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”, said 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 already spent in 2018, including some $50 million at the company’s largest U.S. site in El Dorado, mainly to upgrade the bromine brine exploration network, as well as the site infrastructure and pipelines.
El Dorado is the backbone of LANXESS’ highly integrated value chain for brominated products. At the site LANXESS currently employs approximately 600 people.
A major step on the growth path in North America was the acquisition of chemicals group Chemtura in 2017. With the takeover, LANXESS has significantly strengthened its competitive position in the area of lubricant additives and synthetic lubricants for industrial applications.
In February 2018, LANXESS took a further step to grow its additives business in North America by purchasing the phosphorus chemicals business from Belgian chemicals group Solvay including its U.S. production site in Charleston, South Carolina.
With the acquisitions, LANXESS has significantly expanded its platform in North America. The number of production sites as well as the number of employees have roughly doubled. LANXESS now has 24 production sites and employs some 2,800 staff in North America – including 19 production sites and 2,200 employees in the U.S.