Germanys Lanxess AG has launched its own distribution company for central and eastern Europe in Slovakia, hoping to capture more of the market for specialty chemicals in the rapidly growing region.
We expect growth in these countries to outstrip that of western Europe in the years ahead, so weve decided to tap this potential for Lanxess by setting up our own company, said Rainier van Roessel, member of the Lanxess AG board of management.
Lanxess, headquartered in Leverkusen, supplies Preventol-branded biocides and preservatives to the lubricants industry, and its subsidiary, Rhein Chemie, supplies Additin-branded additives and packages for metalworking fluids, greases and hydraulic fluids.
Since Feb. 15, Lanxess has controlled all of its business activities in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary via Lanxess Central Eastern Europe s.r.o., based in the Slovakian capital Bratislava. The company will also maintain offices in Warsaw, Poland, and Budapest, Hungary.
A key factor in choosing Bratislava was its central location in the central and eastern European market. Bratislava offers us just the right conditions to succeed, said Bjoern-Flemming Bjoernslev, managing director of Lanxess Central Eastern Europe. The company has recruited 40 new staff for the fledgling distribution company, about half of whom will be based in Bratislava. The others will work in the branches and in the field. Lanxess said it previously sold to the region through external distribution agencies.
In October 2007, Lanxess AG organized its then 13 business units into three segments: Performance Polymers, Advanced Intermediates and Performance Chemicals. All 13 of the business units are active in the four countries.
We supply our rubber specialties mainly to national and international tire manufacturers, more and more of whom are expanding their production facilities in central and eastern Europe, said Bjoernslev, explaining planned sales activities. The trend is clearly moving towards wider-scale production of high-performance tires. However, there is also demand for Lanxess rubbers among manufacturers of technical rubber goods, cable manufacturers and the construction industry.
Other key sectors include high-tech plastics with heavy demand in the automotive industry, and in the electrical and electronics industry. Demand is also strong in central an eastern Europe for inorganic pigments, which are used in the construction industry, and to produce paints and coatings.