Asia to continue driving LANXESS’ rubber business

17 September 2008 14:51  [Source: ICIS news]

COLOGNE (ICIS news)--Asia's share of the global butyl rubber market will continue to rise, driven by annual demand growth of 6.9%, an executive at German specialty chemicals group LANXESS said on Wednesday.

 

The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 42% of the company’s sales of butyl rubber in 2007, jumping from almost a third in 2004, said Dr Ronald Commander, head of LANXESS' butyl rubber business unit, at the company's media day.

 

The company was investing up to €400m ($567m) on building a butyl rubber plant on Jurong Island, Singapore, with groundbreaking scheduled for early 2009, he said.

 

The global butyl rubber market, which had an annual volume of about 1m tonnes, would grow at a rate of 3.1% per annum over the next 15 years, he added.

 

Demand in Latin America would grow at 5.1% in contrast to the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) region, where the market would shrink by a further 1% a year as general purpose tyre production continued to migrate to Mexico, Latin America and China, he said.

 

Tyre production had fallen 22% in the US between 2004 and 2007, Commander said.

 

Use of butyl rubber would continue to grow in central and eastern Europe, however, as tyre companies followed the automotive industry and built new plants in the region, he added.

 

LANXESS had responded to growing demand with expansion projects in Antwerp, Belgium, and Sarnia, Canada, which had boosted overall capacity by 30% since 2006, he said.

 

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By: Elaine Burridge
+44 20 8652 3214

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