Pigments with environmental and physiological compatibility
Inorganic pigments for the booming construction industry in China
Leverkusen–Chemicals group LANXESS will be showcasing its extensive range of inorganic pigments for the construction and coatings industries at Chinaplas 2007 in Guangzhou, China. With the boom of the construction industry in China, there are rising demands for high-quality products such as offered by the LANXESS Inorganic Pigments business unit. In the last five years, the business unit has registered average annual sales growth of 15 percent in China. LANXESS expects the sales of dyes and pigments in the Asia Pacific market to increase by 30 percent by 2010. “Our operations in China are a major factor in our Asia strategy. We will continue to develop our business in this region, and will prepare ourselves to meet the growing demand for ironoxides in China,” said Mr. Wolfgang Schmitz, head of the Inorganic Pigments business unit of LANXESS.
As part of its Asia strategy and an important step in driving forward the profitable growth of its pigments business in China, LANXESS recentlyopened a production facility for yellow raw pigments in Jinshan, Shanghaiin April. With an annual production capacity of around 20,000 tons, the new facility will safeguard the quality and economic supply of raw materials to the existing blending and milling operations of the LANXESS Inorganic Pigments business unit in Shanghai.
A vivid example of the recycling economy which LANXESS advocates globally, the Jinshan plant uses iron scrap to manufacture raw materials with improved quality and quality consistency. Production complies with the same rigid environmental standards adopted by all other LANXESS operations worldwide. LANXESS pigments are non-toxic, physiologically safe, insoluble in water and do not pose risks to the environment.
On stand no. 2E209, the focus is on the products Bayferrox, Colortherm and Chrome Oxide Green. For some years LANXESS Bayferrox products have been widely used in many applications. Bayferrox and Chrome Oxide inorganic pigments have proven effective over decades of use for coloring a wide variety of products such as concrete, roofing tiles, coatings, plastics and paper, and are also used as specialty pigments for toners. The products have excellent lightfastness, outstanding quality and are easy to process as well as being environmentally friendly.
The Colortherm line of UV- and weather-resistant inorganic colored pigments have proven effective for the coloration of many materials.The products, which are available in red, black, yellow and brown and have high thermal stability, good dispersion and excellent performance, are targeted at the needs of the plastics processing industry. These pigments are not only cost-effective, they are also especially lightfast and weather-resistant. The micronized Colortherm pigments are simple to process, easily dispersible and, depending on the grade, can be heated to the temperatures required for the production processing of colored plastics.
LANXESS synthetic iron oxide pigments are sold predominantly to the construction industry, even if only a very small proportion of all the manufactured concrete is actually colored. The second most important customer industry is the paint and coatings industry, followed by plastics and paper. In April 2007, LANXESS’s Inorganic Pigments business unit was classed as a “TOP10 Pigments Supplier” for the second consecutive year by the HC group (www. hc360.com), a leading B2B electronic commerce service provider in China. The Inorganic Pigments business unit belongs to the Chemical Intermediates segment, which achieved total sales in 2006 of EUR 1.53 billion.
Asia Pacific is a key region for LANXESS. With sales growing to EUR 1.23 billion, Asia’s share of Group sales increased to just under 18 percent in 2006. The boom is being driven by the Chinese and Indian markets, where sales growth reached double figures. The Leverkusen-based chemicals group inaugurated five new plants in China as part of the “LANXESS goes Asia” initiative concluded in April 2006. Moreover, the company is set to recruit up to 1,000 new employees in Asia by 2009.
More information about the Asia initiative of LANXESS:
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Leverkusen,May 25, 2007
erb(2007-0099e)
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This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by LANXESS AG management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conformthem to future events or developments.