Highlights
Second-Quarter Highlights
APRIL 2
Acquisition of a majority interest in Petroflex completed
LANXESS has completed the acquisition of 70% of the shares of Petroflex S.A., Latin America’s largest rubber producer, paying roughly €200 million for the share package. The transaction took legal and economic effect on April 1, 2008. Petroflex S.A. will be included in the LANXESS Group financial statements starting in the second quarter of 2008. Petroflex represents an ideal addition to LANXESS’s product portfolio. The acquisition strengthens the company’s position in one of the world’s most important growth markets.
APRIL 17
LANXESS identifies rising demand in China for “green” products
Sales of environmentally friendly products and system solutions in China have increased significantly over the past twelve months. “We expect this trend to continue, giving further impetus to our business in China,” said Axel C. Heitmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS, at the plastics trade fair Chinaplas 2008 in Shanghai.
APRIL 29
Singapore ambassador welcomes construction of new butyl rubber plant
At a meeting with Axel C. Heitmann, Ampalavanar Selverajah, the ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to Germany, described the construction of the new butyl rubber plant in Singapore as an outstanding example of economic commitment. Starting in 2011, LANXESS will operate Asia’s largest facility for the manufacture of synthetic rubber – mainly for tire production – at the Jurong Island chemical park. Both parties are interested in further developing their relations beyond the scope of this record investment project. interessiert.
MAY 19
LANXESS to lower emissions of climate gases
LANXESS will reduce emissions of climate-damaging gases in Germany by roughly 80% by 2012 relative to 2007. To achieve this goal, the company will realize Germany’s first industrial joint implementation project, an innovative type of climate protection initiative. The project centers on the construction of a new plant – the second of its kind – for the reduction of climate-damaging nitrous oxide (N2O) at the company’s site in Krefeld-Uerdingen. Nitrous oxide is produced during the manufacture of adipic acid, a precursor for plastics. Although the gas is completely safe for humans, it is over 300 times more damaging to the climate than CO2. The new plant, already due on stream at the beginning of 2009, will completely neutralize LANXESS’s nitrous oxide emissions, saving more than 1.5 million tons of CO2 equivalent annually by 2012 compared with 2007. The company will also decrease its yearly CO2 emissions in Germany by about another 10,000 tons by 2012 through lasting improvements in energy efficiency at its production facilities.