Lanxess reports worldwide sales growth in all segments
13 Nov '08
6 min read
Global chemicals production for the full year 2008 is expected to be below the level of 2007. The prospects for key customer industries, most notably the construction and automotive sectors, continue to worsen. The global tire market displays regional variations, with continuing stable demand for high-performance rubbers in Asia but declining volumes in North America and Europe.
“In certain fields LANXESS is already feeling the challenges presented by a steadily weakening economy and is countering this development by actively managing capacity usage and continuing to systematically implement efficiency-improvement measures,” commented Heitmann. “For the full year 2008 we plan to achieve an EBITDA margin in line with that of our peer group. We also intend to attain an EBITDA margin in excess of 5 percent in all of our business units and maintain our investment-grade rating,” the LANXESS CEO stressed.
LANXESS expects energy costs to continue to rise in the fourth quarter of 2008, while raw material costs are anticipated to decline at the beginning of 2009. As in the past, LANXESS will provide an outlook for the new fiscal year when the Annual Report is published in spring 2009.