LANXESS builds new ion exchange facility

Ahmedabad, Sep 1: LANXESS Chemicals Group, a multi-national company, will build its new ion exchange resin plant in Gujarat at the cost of 30 million Euros.

Construction work at the new Jhagadia Chemical Park near Baroda is set to begin in the second quarter of 2008. Production is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2010.

According to sources, the project is the biggest in terms of investment in the past several years.

''This represents a commitment to one of the fastest growing and most future-proof areas of industrial chemistry. The aim of this move is to generate profitable growth and further strengthen our leading position on the global market,'' member of the LANXESS Management Board Rainier van Roessel said.

The new plant will manufacture products for industrial water treatment and the generation of ultra-pure water for the semi-conductor and pharmaceutical industries. The portfolio will comprise a selection of the ion exchanger grades in the Ion Exchange Resins business unit's current product range such as anions, cations and mixed bed.

The Company said the location, Jhagadia Chemical Park, in India was selected because it already has an excellent industrial infrastructure in place.

LANXESS India Managing Director Dr Strassburger stated, ''It is a matter of great pride for us that India has been chosen as the location for this important project which will serve as a landmark for further investments in India.'' The Ion Exchange Resins business unit belongs to the Performance Chemicals segment, which achieved total sales of EUR 1,812 million in 2006.

The Asia-Pacific region is of crucial significance for LANXESS.

With sales increasing to EUR 1.23 billion, Asia accounted for nearly 18 per cent of the Group's sales in 2006. Driving this growth are the Chinese and Indian markets, where double-digit increases in sales were recorded. The Leverkusen-based chemicals group has inaugurated five new plants in China as part of the ''LANXESS goes Asia'' strategy launched in April 2006.

UNI