LANXESS Greater China Sales Grow 7.8% for Q2   

By Xiaoqing Jiang   
LANXESS Greater China sales increased by 7.8% to EUR 167.5 million for the second quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008. Adjusted for exchange-rate effects and divested or newly integrated businesses, it receded slightly by 3.6%. In comparison to the weak first quarter of 2009, sales almost doubled from EUR 84.8 million.
    "While the global economic recession continues to dampen demand for LANXESS products, we did see some improvement in the second quarter compared with the beginning of the year" said Martin Kraemer, CEO of LANXESS Greater China. "Growth in Greater China was mainly driven by the rubber business units and the semi-crystalline products business unit, aided by a recovery in the automotive industry and construction industries. Additional driving forces, one was the Ion Exchange Resins products business unit, which offers effective and innovative solutions for power plants, another the Material Protection Products business unit, which successfully launched the stabilizer Velcorin (R ) to the Beverage Industry in China."
    "We expect that the government stimulus package and domestic demand should keep China's automotive industry grow through 2009 and 2010. To meet the needs of auto makers in China, the migration of global components makers to the country will continue, even through the economic slowdown. As we are one of the upstream suppliers, our sale performance will benefit from this trend."
    Sales in the Asia-Pacific region rose 74% to EUR 304 million in the second quarter in comparison to a very weak first quarter, with strong contributions coming from China, South Korea and India. The sharp increase in sales in the second quarter implies the region's share of Group sales has now risen to 25%.
   Sales in all regions in the second quarter fell year-on-year by double-digit percentage amounts except for Asia-Pacific, which fell only by a single-digit percentage amount year-on-year.
   The group's second quarter sales were EUR 1.24 billion, up 17% quarter-on-quarter, and down 29.9% year-on-year. Net income was positive at EUR 17 million after being negative for two consecutive quarters.