By Wu Yang, China Chemical Reporter
On November 28, German specialty chemicals company LANXESS announced on the 2019 press conference that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) in September to reserve land for an integrated production site. Furthermore, the company is planning to establish an Application Development Center for the Asia-Pacific region in Shanghai.
After the press conference, Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS AG and Ming Cheng Chien, President of the LANXESS Asia-Pacific Region, accepted the interview by China Chemical Reporter (CCR) Magazine.
Stable investment in China
By signing the MOU with SCIP in September this year, LANXESS has reserved 20 ha of land to set up an integrated site as a new base for sustainable growth in China. The company also plans to set up an integrated APAC Application Development Center (AADC) in Shanghai. This comes as the need for localized product grades increases due to shifting demand toward value added products in China. With local innovation already making up a large share of new business, the AADC will further strengthen innovation capabilities in China and the Asia-Pacific region.
“We are confident in China’s future growth potential. The country’s chemical market is a key pillar in the region. It is already the largest in the world, and by 2030 will account for almost 50% of all global chemical sales. Our investments will help us meet the growing market demand here,” said Ming Cheng Chien, President of the LANXESS Asia-Pacific Region. “In addition, they express our deep commitment to support China in realizing High Quality Development.”
Full confidence in the high-performance materials industry
LANXESS held an opening ceremony to celebrate the start of production at its new plant in Changzhou in September. The compounding facility produces Durethan- and Pocan-branded high-tech plastics, especially for the automotive sector and the electric and electronics industry.
When talking about the global high-performance materials (especially the lightweight material) development trends, Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS AG told CCR magazine: “The global lightweight development trend will accelerate in the future. This "acceleration" has been seen in the past five years, and it is also related to the global introduction of lightening standards. For example, there are new regulations in Europe that require auto companies to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by fleet units. Based on the fleet calculation, that is, all the cars of this company are not based on the type of engine power, but the cars produced by the entire company, which requires further reduction in emissions. Speaking of new types of mobility in the future, such as electric vehicles, the demands for lightweight may require more and higher than today's diesel locomotives.”
“For electric vehicles, first of all, the battery stack itself has a very high weight. On this basis, it is necessary to increase the endurance of the car and improve the operating efficiency of the car. If you want to achieve results, you must work on lightweight chemistry and materials. At the same time, vehicles with internal combustion engines are also seeking to reduce weight and achieve emission reduction goals,” said Matthias Zachert.
LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of Euro 7.2 billion in 2018. The company currently has about 15 500 employees in 33 countries and is represented at 60 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. LANXESS is listed in the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World and Europe) and FTSE4Good.
