German specialty chemicals group Lanxess plans to boost the supply of its products to meet growing demand for more environmentally friendly plastics in China.

Three business units of the company - semi-crystalline products (SCP), inorganic pigments (IPG) and the wholly owned subsidiary Rhein Chemie - showcased their green products in a recent exhibition in Shanghai.

To meet the rising demand for lighter materials in the automotive industry, the SCP unit produces plastics, metal hybrids and metal replacement solutions that reduce a car's weight, which in turn requires less energy and emits less carbon.

The IPG business unit's inorganic pigments for plastics offer high thermal and weather stability along with lightfastness - it will not fade due to exposure to light.

Increased domestic consumption and the rising purchasing power of the middle class is leading to greater mobility and urbanization in China, which is driving demand for automobiles and modern housing that use Lanxess products.

"Our solutions and top-quality chemical products give our Chinese customers the leading edge in the evolving domestic market," said Axel Heitmann, chairman of the board of Lanxess.

The German company in April announced it will expand capacity at its compounding plant for high-tech plastics in Wuxi in Jiangsu province. It will build a third production line at the plant, which will go on stream in mid 2011 and increase capacity by nearly 50 percent,

After expansion, the plant will have the capacity to produce 60,000 metric tons of plastics annually and require a double-digit increase in skilled labor.

"This investment will serve the growing demand from Chinese and Asian customers for premium, high-performance engineering plastics, mainly driven by the booming automotive industry," said Heitmann. He added that Lanxess was considering further investments in Wuxi in the near future.

(China Daily 05/07/2010 page15)