SPECIALITY chemicals company Lanxess is streamlining its plant network and portfolio for its Rubber Chemicals business unit. At the core is the bundling of production processes for vulcanisation accelerators, which are used primarily in the tyre industry.
The North American Bushy Park site is taking over production of the accelerator Vulkacit CZ from the Belgian plant in Kallo. Conversely, the company is shifting production for the accelerators Vulkacit DZ and Vulkacit NZ from Bushy Park to Kallo. These changes will be implemented by 2014.
The business unit is also streamlining its product range as some products have reached the end of their life cycle. The company is therefore discontinuing production of the vulcanisation accelerator Vulkacit MOZ at the Kallo site during 2014.
Meanwhile,its Isithebe, South African site, which produces ageing inhibitors Vulkanox 3100 and Vulkanox DPPD, will be closed and consequently affectingn ome 40 employees
Luis López-Remón, Head of the Rubber Chemicals business unit at Lanxess, “These measures enable us to enhance our efficiency and competitiveness. Moreover, we can focus our portfolio on innovative, sustainable and profitable products in order to accommodate the trend toward increasingly high-tech products within the tyre industry also in the future.”
With the impending realignment, headcount in Bushy Park will remain unchanged at around 60 while the number of positions in Kallo will decrease by around 45 from currently 205. Responsible solutions will be sought for all affected employees in close collaboration with the employee representatives.
The realignment at the Rubber Chemicals business unit is part of a package of measures Lanxess is taking to boost competitiveness at the Performance Chemicals segment’s international sites.
The Rubber Chemicals business unit of Lanxess is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of rubber chemicals. These are used primarily by tyre manufacturers and producers of technical rubber products. Other major customers include companies in the fuels, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and the mining industries. The business unit employs 560 employees worldwide and has currently production operations at the Leverkusen, Brunsbüttel and Krefeld-Uerdingen sites in Germany as well as in Kallo, Belgium; Bushy Park,US; Jhagadia, India; and Isithebe, South Africa.