GERMAN speciality chemicals firm Lanxess is continuing to focus on the growing Chinese market and is targeting sales of more than EUR1 billion there in 2012.
“Greater China will continue to be a cornerstone of our fast-growing Asian business,” said the Chairman of the Board of Management of Lanxess, Axel C. Heitmann, prior to the company’s second Rubber Day China held in Beijing in December.
China has been a particular focus of Lanxess’s global growth strategy ever since the group was founded. Since 2005, it has achieved strong sales growth every year in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. In 2010, sales were around EUR800 million in China, which represents 11% of total group sales. The number of employees has also risen rapidly since 2005, from 580 to 950 at present.
The company also markets high-performance rubbers for green tyres, which are more fuel-efficient, more durable and safer than standard tyres. With an annual growth rate of around 10%, green tyres is the fastest-growing segment in the global tyre industry. Demand is being driven by the megatrend mobility, above all in the regions of Asia and Latin America, as the middle class there becomes more affluent.
A current study by The Technical University of Munich (TUM) shows that the proportion of green tyres in China is likely to rise to as much as 50% of the entire tyre market by 2020. This study was commissioned by Lanxess. These tyres can reduce rolling resistance by 20 to 30% and thus cut fuel consumption by 5 to 7%.
China is the world’s largest car market and demand is expected to rise by 9% a year in the coming years. Around 400 million car tyres are produced in China each year – one-third of global tyre production. Lanxess supplies leading tyre manufacturers in China such as Triangle, Cheng-Shin and Linglong. (PRA)
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