Lanxess expands cresol production unit in Leverkusen

The LANXESS aromatics network, to which the cresol plant in Leverkusen belongs, consists of a total of seven large-scale plants – mostly in Leverkusen – with further finishing stages in Krefeld-Uerdingen, Dormagen and Brunsbüttel, Germany.

The starting basis for the aromatics network comprises the petrochemical raw materials benzene and toluene, which are further processed through a variety of chemical reaction steps into a diversity of high-quality intermediates. These products – more than 50 of them in total – play a major role in all areas of everyday life.

They are used worldwide as key starting materials for active ingredients in crop protection products and pharmaceuticals, perfumes and flavorings, as well as for polymers, paper chemicals, surface coatings and pigments.

Some 500 LANXESS employees work in the unique structure of the aromatics network, which manufactures and globally markets nearly 300,000 metric tons of high-quality intermediates a year.

The particular advantage of this integrated plant network is that in Leverkusen all the facilities are connected to each other via pipeline systems, leading to improved logistics and significant productivity advantages over competitors. The plants in Dormagen, Krefeld and Brunsbüttel are connected via rail and road transport. In addition to the materials network, the energy network also plays a major role in optimizing the deployment of energy.

The Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit belongs to the Advanced Intermediates segment, which achieved total sales in fiscal 2012 of roughly EUR 1.7 billion.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 9.1 billion in 2012 and roughly 17,500 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.

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