The LANXESS chemicals group are to build their new ion exchange resin plant in the Indian state of Gujarat. Construction work on the €30 million site at the new Jhagadia Chemical Park near Baroda is set to begin in the second quarter of 2008. Production is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2010, with 200 new employees being taken on.&rtreturn;In terms of investment volume this is the biggest project undertaken by LANXESS’s Ion Exchange Resins business unit since the end of the 1990s.&rtreturn;’This represents a commitment to one of the fastest growing and most future-proof areas of industrial chemistry. The aim of this move is to generate profitable growth and further strengthen our position on the global market,’ explains Rainier van Roessel, of the LANXESS Management Board&rtreturn;.The new plant will manufacture products for industrial water treatment and the generation of ultra-pure water for the semi-conductor and pharmaceutical industries. The portfolio will comprise a selection of the ion exchanger grades in Ion Exchange Resins business unit’s current product range such as anions, cations and mixed bed.&rtreturn;In March of this year, LANXESS launched an international competition that sites in China, India and Singapore entered. The Jhagadia Chemical Park in India was selected because it already has an excellent industrial infrastructure in place. The Ion Exchange Resins business unit belongs to the Performance Chemicals segment, which achieved total sales in 2006 of €1,8 million.&rtreturn;The Asia-Pacific region is of crucial significance for LANXESS. With sales increasing to €1.2 billion, Asia accounted for nearly 18% of the Group’s sales in 2006. Driving this growth are the Chinese and Indian markets, where double-digit increases in sales were recorded. The Leverkusen-based chemicals group has inaugurated five new plants in China as part of the ‘LANXESS goes Asia’ strategy launched in April 2006. The company also plans to hire up to 1,000 new employees in Asia by 2009. For more information about the LANXESS Asia strategy, visit [http://www.lanxess-goes-asia.com]
