'Energizing chemistry for accelerated growth' - Lanxess focuses on premium products
I recently returned from a flying visit to Düsseldorf in the Rhinelands of Germany, courtesy of Lanxess (Pty) Ltd, the South African arm of the global company Lanxess AG. Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company whose core business is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
On the 15th of September Lanxess held an international Media Day for over 100 journalists from countries as far flung as China and Brazil, including India and the USA. I was invited to attend along with a journalist from Cape Town, and to spend two other days during which we made site tours to the company's plants in nearby Leverkusen and Dormagen. We were also treated to a gala dinner held at the historic 'Wasserwerk' outside the city.
In his opening speech at this, Lanxess' fourth annual Media Day, Dr Axel Heitmann, the company's CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Management, announced that it is Lanxess' goal to increase its leading earnings indicator by approximately 80% in the next five years. He added that by the end of this year the company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) pre exceptionals (or operating profit) will have been increased by the same amount (+/- 80%) since 2004 - and this of course includes the period of the recent worldwide economic crisis.
Apropos of this, in his speech later, the Chief Financial Officer, Matthias Zachert, told us that midway through the crisis, Lanxess' plants were running at only 60-70% of capacity utilization while the average over a normal cycle in the chemical industry is between 80 and 85%. The targeted figure for 2015 is E1,4 bn.
What is really remarkable, in my book, is that in 2004, when Lanxess was spun off from Bayer AG, the company was "deeply in red ink", to quote Zachert, and yet, by 2009, was in the black and is now heading for a record profit. Future organic growth projects and acquisitions are the two strategies Lanxess will be applying as it aims to achieve its earnings target.
'Chemical Technology' will be devoting a number of articles in forthcoming issues to topics synonymous with Lanxess' four strongest growth drivers globally: synthetic rubber, high-tech plastic, essential materials in tyres, and automotive parts, all premium products serving the four megatrends of mobility, agriculture, urbanization and water. All of which, I am certain, will be of great interest to our readers, coming as they do, from so many diverse fields. For example, I plan to cover Nd-PBR (neodymium polybutadiene rubber) which is crucial for producing high-performance tyres - or 'green' tyres. By the way, this environmentally friendly product is the fastest growing segment in the tyre industry worldwide - and Lanxess is the leading supplier of rubber for this purpose.
Click here to see some of the photos from my visit and to read some snippets of information about the company and its products - and people.
Be sure to look out for the articles on Lanxess' wide-ranging business units and reports on not only this trip, but also on my tour of the South African plants.
Enjoy this issue!
Glynnis Koch
chemtech@crown.co.za
