New Year, new prices. As of 1 January, German specialty chemicals firm Lanxess will increase prices for the rubber chemicals supplied by its Rubber Chemicals business units. The company says this move is necessary to offset raw material cost increases expected in the first quarter of 2014.
Prices for Lanxess’ Vulkanox (antidegradant) and Vulkacit (accelerator) rubber chemicals, two products used in tyre manufacture, will increase as of 1 July. Lanxess says the new pricing is required to offset higher production costs. The price increases will range between 0.05 Euro/kg and 0.20 Euro/kg (0.10 US$ and 0.30 US$), depending on the product and region.
US-based speciality chemicals company Cabot Corporation has announced reaching “another key milestone” in its technology licensing agreement with Manufacture Francaise des Pneumatiques Michelin for use of Cabot’s patented elastomer composite technology in tyre applications. Regular royalty payments to Cabot have now begun and will extend through fiscal 2022.
Use in tyres, particularly in harsh environments such as underground mines, is just one of a number of areas the product of a new partnership will be applied to. Specialty chemicals company Chemtura Corporation and machinery firm Caterpillar Inc. have announced their entry into a joint venture agreement to explore “novel applications” for Chemtura’s Duracast hot-cast urethane pre-polymer technology for construction and mining equipment.
The Board of Directors at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company now has 12 members following the election of John E. McGlade. When not sitting on Goodyear’s board, McGlade is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Air Products & Chemicals Inc.
Brazil’s government has carried out a public consultation to determine regulations for tyres sold in the country in preparation for legislations towards greener tyres. Chemicals manufacturer Lanxess reports that the consultation was performed last month and the government is now analysing the suggestions it received; these will be published before the end of the year.
German specialty chemicals manufacturer Lanxess says its position as a premium supplier to the tyre industry has been strengthened by its subsidiary Rhein Chemie’s acquisition of US-based bladder manufacturer Tire Curing Bladders LLC (TCB) for an undisclosed sum. The deal, which closed with immediate effect, sees Rhein Chemie as the proud owner of a firm with the capacity to produce more than 400,000 bladders per annum. TCB primarily serves the North American market and achieved sales of more than US$21 million in 2011. The company employs around 100 people.
Lanxess may still a year away from moving into its new home, yet anybody passing by the future site of the company’s global headquarters in Cologne, Germany will be left with no doubt as to whose digs it is. The specialty chemicals company has renamed the former Lufthansa building, which is currently undergoing renovations ahead of the arrival of Lanxess’ employees in the second half of 2013, and from now on it will be known as the Lanxess Tower. The name was chosen from more than 600 staff suggestions.
A buyer for Sibur Holding’s tyre business may be announced before the end of this year, Bloomberg reports. New owners Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Timchenko are apparently “close” to securing buyers for Sibur-Russian Tyres plus the company’s Sibur-Fertilizers business; their sale forms part of the owners’ new focus on specialty chemicals, Bloomberg states.
Lanxess AG has lifted its full-year guidance for 2011 on the back of strong second quarter results. The German specialty chemicals company now expects its EBITDA pre-exceptionals to grow about 20 per cent year-on-year after previously forecasting a growth of 10 to 15 per cent. During the second quarter the company’s EBITDA pre-exceptionals rose 26 per cent year-on-year to 339 million euros.
At its meeting on August 10, the Supervisory Board of German specialty chemicals supplier Lanxess renewed Dr. Axel C. Heitmann’s tenure as chairman of the Board of Management for a further five years. This extension will take effect on July 1, 2004. Heitmann has held the position since September 2004.
Evonik Industries reports successfully completing the divestment of its carbon black activities on July 29, 2011. The sale of the business to Rhône Capital and Triton Partners is valued at over 900 million euros, the company added.
Japan’s Asahi Kasei Chemicals has held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new synthetic rubber plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island. The June 22 event marks the start of work on a facility expected to produce 50,000 tons of solution-polymerised styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR) a year when the first stage work is complete in May 2013. Second stage work at the site, scheduled for completion in early 2015, should double annual output.
Lanxess has expressed its pride in receiving one of the inaugural Michelin Supplier Awards. The German specialty chemicals company was one of a number of key suppliers acknowledged by Michelin at an awards ceremony held in France on June 15, and upon receiving the company’s award Dr. Joachim Grub, head of Lanxess’ Performance Butadiene Rubbers business unit stated “we consider it a great honour to be one of the winners of the first Michelin Supplier Award.
US chemicals company Solutia Inc. reports having reshaped its rubber chemicals portfolio. Although specific details about this change have not been publicised, the company says the reshaping shows a reaffirmation of its “commitment to high-value, market-leading rubber chemicals,” including its Santoflex antigradants, which are used in the production of tyres, belts, hoses, cables and other products.
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