Specialty chemicals company Lanxess is accelerating its growth course and signed a binding agreement to acquire 100 per cent shares in Emerald Kalama Chemical.

The US-based company is a globally leading manufacturer of specialty chemicals, especially for the consumer segment, and is majority-owned by affiliates of the US private equity firm American Securities. The enterprise value of Emerald Kalama Chemical amounts to $1.075 billion. After deducting debt-like items, the purchase price is around $1.04 billion, which Lanxess will finance from existing liquidity. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021. It is still subject to approval by the relevant authorities, a statement said.

“We are gaining further momentum on our growth course. The businesses of Emerald Kalama Chemical are an ideal fit for us. We will further strengthen our Consumer Protection segment and open up new application areas with strong margins, for example in the food industry and animal health sector. In addition, we will also enlarge our presence in our growth region of North America. All this will make us even more profitable and stable,” said Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Board of Management of Lanxess.

Emerald Kalama Chemical employs approximately 500 employees worldwide and runs production sites in Kalama, Washington (US), Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Widnes (UK). Emerald Kalama Chemical generates around 45 per cent of its turnover in North America.

“Emerald Kalama Chemical has a very efficient setup, bundling all its production activities at only three sites. That is why we expect to integrate the new business very quickly,” said Zachert.

PORTFOLIO EXPANSION

Emerald Kalama Chemical generates about 75 per cent of its turnover with specialties in the consumer segment. These include preservatives for food, household and cosmetic applications, flavours and fragrances as well as products for animal nutrition. The remaining 25 per cent of sales come from the specialty chemicals business for industrial applications, including the plastics and adhesives industries. With the acquisition, Lanxess is pursuing a targeted expansion of its portfolio. The company has a strong position in the global business with antimicrobial active ingredients and preservatives, including for consumer protection products and animal hygiene.

INAUGURATES PLANT

German specialty chemicals company, last month, took another major step on the road to climate neutrality as it inaugurated a nitrous oxide reduction plant at its site in Antwerp, Belgium.

The plant breaks down around 500 metric tonnes of nitrous oxide per year, which is equivalent to the climate impact of 150,000 metric tonnes of CO₂. Lanxess has invested around EUR 10 million ($12.13 million) in its construction. A second plant is scheduled to start up in 2023 and is expected to eliminate a further 300,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents (CO₂e), a statement said.

“We are committed to the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius.

The new nitrous oxide reduction plant in Antwerp is a key building block in Lanxess becoming climate-neutral by 2040,” explained Lanxess Board of Management member Hubert Fink. At the same time, he highlighted the economic benefits of the climate protection measures, saying that “Climate protection is a business case for us. On the one hand, we are becoming an even more sustainable partner for our customers. On the other, we are reducing our costs because we need fewer certificates from the European Emissions Trading System and use less energy thanks to innovative technologies.”

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY

Nitrous oxide (N₂O), also known as laughing gas, is generated at the Antwerp site during the production of the plastic intermediate caprolactam. It is harmless to humans but 300 times more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide. At temperatures of around 1,000 degrees Celsius, Lanxess breaks down the nitrous oxide into its harmless components nitrogen and oxygen in the new plant, thus neutralising it completely.

In a second process step, the plant breaks down further nitrogen oxides (NOx). Ammonia is used as a reducing agent for this. At temperatures between 250 and 450 degrees Celsius, the nitrogen oxides are broken down and produce nitrogen and water. Thanks to the innovative combination of these processes the plant is highly thermally efficient. This is ensured by specially developed ceramic heat exchangers. These capture and store the heat used in the thermal oxidation process and generated during the breakdown of nitrous oxide and nitrogen oxides. When the heat exchangers have stored the heat from the clean gas, the process flow changes direction and the heat exchangers now preheat the incoming exhaust gas. This change of direction then takes place recurrently. This means that significantly less external energy has to be supplied to keep the process running.

AMBITIOUS PLANS

In addition to the Antwerp plant, the Group is currently implementing further climate protection projects with the aim of becoming climate neutral by 2040. Lanxess is also switching the entire energy supply at its Indian sites to renewable energy sources. There, the company is massively expanding its supply of biomass and solar power and will no longer use coal or gas in the future. This will cut CO₂e emissions by a further 150,000 tonnes starting from 2024. The Group also plans to phase out coal-based energy use at its major production sites in Germany. In 2019, it announced to invest a total of up to EUR 100 million in its climate protection projects by 2025.

Lanxess is also revising many of its existing production processes. For example, the Group will continue to improve its “Verbund” structures, e.g. when it comes to heat exchange between plants and air purification. Other procedures must first be developed on a large industrial scale. The Group is therefore turning the focus of its research more towards climate neutral process and technological innovation.

Lanxess has two production sites in the Antwerp port area. The intermediates caprolactam and polyamide are produced in Lillo/Antwerp. In Kallo/Antwerp, Lanxess produces glass fibres, also for use in plastics, and rubber chemicals. 

LANXESS ADDS A SPLASH OF 3D COLOUR

Lanxess concrete sample box

Lanxess is supporting its customers in adding colour to their 3D-printed concrete products. The specialty chemicals company, has created a sample box showing which colours can be realised in additive manufacturing, a statement said.

The box contains concrete samples in 26 different colours, coloured with weather-resistant, colourfast, inorganic pigments from the well-known Bayferrox brand. These can be used for reliably adding colour to 3D-printed concrete structures, lending users of this highly promising and cost-efficient technology even greater design freedom in projects large and small.

3D concrete printing is a manufacturing method that has only recently made inroads into the construction industry. Numerous universities worldwide have established special research areas for additive manufacturing in the construction industry. The technology is already being used in practice, with the first 3D-printed house in Germany built at the end of 2020, while some countries such as the Netherlands, the USA and the UAE have already built entire housing complexes with 3D printing technology.

Additive manufacturing uses state-of-the-art IT for automated production, permits an extremely wide variety of shapes and, in terms of material consumption, is extremely economical even in small-volume projects. The principle underlying the component construction process is that concrete is applied only where it is needed, which ensures that construction materials are used sparingly, and which opens up whole new design possibilities.

Cement-based mortar or concrete suitable for 3D printing passes through a nozzle to form layers up to a few centimeters thick without the need for formwork. “This helps to streamline construction processes – after all, on a building site, time is money. We can see that 3D concrete printing is becoming increasingly widespread in many segments and a key technology in the construction industry,” said Oliver Fleschentraeger, Market Segment Manager Construction in Lanxess’ Inorganic Pigments business unit.