LANXESS invests €35m in Antwerp capro expansion

17 September 2008 09:52  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--LANXESS will invest €35m ($49m) in a 10% expansion of its Antwerp caprolactam capacity by 2010, the German-based engineering plastics producer said on Wednesday.

The Belgium plant currently has a capacity of around 200,000 tonnes/year of caprolactam, which is needed mainly for the manufacture of thermoplastic polyester polyamide (PA) 6.

The company’s Antwerp complex consists of five plants, with the caprolactam unit positioned at the end of a chain which yields cyclohexanone and oleum - highly concentrated sulphuric acid - and their pre-products for caprolactam production, said LANXESS.

This latest project will also include measures to increase the capacity of some of these plants by 2010, said LANXESS.

LANXESS will also increase KA oil capacity 25% to 150,000 tonnes/year by 2010. KA oil is a mixture of cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol, which is formed through the oxidation of cyclohexane and is later processed into caprolactam.

“In conjunction with the ongoing measures to improve efficiency, the investment will further improve the competitiveness of this site," said LANXESS board member Rainier van Roessel.

"In addition, it will safeguard the backward integration of our global plastics business, where rising feedstock prices are playing a major role," he added.

($1 = €0.71)

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By: Hilde Ovrebekk
+44 20 8652 3214

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