Lanxess sees 2007 China sales up 23.4%

Lanxess AG, the German chemical maker spun off from Bayer AG, said its sales in China surged 23.4% from the previous year to a record of about US$814.6 million in 2007.

The handsome sales growth benefited from a series of moves to boost production in China, including setting up a second engineering plastic plant in Jiangsu province and a rubber antioxidant plant in Anhui province, the company said in a statement.

The Leverkusen-based chemical maker is one of the first foreign suppliers to manufacture an antioxidant for rubber in China, while China was rated Lanxess's biggest Asian market for three consecutive years.

"China is currently Lanxess's third largest market in the world, only next to Germany and the U.S.," Wang Yongli, Lanxess Group Greater China president said.

Lanxess plans to invest about US$665 million to US$710 million this year to renew or expand facilities to seek higher global sales, particularly in Asia. But how much will be invested in China is still unknown to date.