December 15, 2016

ARLANXEO RUBBER TECHNOLOGY STRENGTHENS MARKET POSITION

NEW RUBBER TECHNOLOGY CENTER IN CHINA

- Most comprehensive rubber testing lab in China inaugurated at EPDM site in Changzhou
- ARLANXEO’s production and testing competencies consolidated under one roof to serve customers better

​​​​​​​ARLANXEO, a global leader in synthetic elastomers, today opened its state-of-the-art Rubber Technology Centre (RTC) in Changzhou, China. With the most advanced analytical testing capabilities to date, the RTC is located within the premises of   ARLANXEO’s state-of-the-art EPDM plant, and is one of ARLANXEO's global rubber testing centers.

In fact, with the RTC, ARLANXEO now offers the most comprehensive rubber laboratory in China as it is capable of testing and mixing a great  variety of rubber products.

“We believe that this move ties in with our focus of serving our customers better by improving our systems and processes in the APAC region. The new RTC will continue to strengthen ARLANXEO’s product portfolio to meet the region's growth potential,” said Jan Paul, Chief Executive Officer of ARLANXEO.

Together with the butyl rubber and Nd-BR plants in Singapore, the EPDM plant in China make up the three newest and most advanced plants of ARLANXEO – all in APAC. The new RTC also brings together ARLANXEO’s testing, mixing and production capabilities under one roof in China.

“The consolidation of our testing and mixing capabilities and the production strength of the EPDM plant in China has not only made ARLANXEO well-placed to meet the challenges currently presented by the market situation, but also underscores the importance of China and the APAC region to ARLANXEO,” continued Paul.

Going beyond the business

The new RTC at the EPDM plant is also part of ARLANXEO’s strategy to build closer ties with local partners and customers via cooperation and collaboration.

“While the products manufactured at the plant have been well-received, underlining our customers’ confidence in our locally-manufactured rubber products, the RTC adds additional value to ARLANXEO world-class EPDM plant. Having the RTC at the same location streamlines our production and technical processes, brings us closer to our customers in order to serve them better,” said Ming Cheng Chien, Managing Director of ARLANXEO China.

RTC’s milestones throughout the years
The development of the RTC began at the LANXESS Rubber Research Center in Qingdao, where it started off as a chemistry and analysis laboratory in 2008. Since then, the center  has developed over the years, including merging with ARLANXEO’s APAC technical center in Shanghai and adding more competencies and  cutting edge equipment, before starting full operations as the all-new RTC at the EPDM site in Changzhou.

The RTC is  made up of five different laboratories, to cater for mixing, rheological, physical testing, wet and analytical testing operations. The laboratories are currently led by two teams: the Rubber Mixing team and Rubber Testing team. These factors come together to make the RTC a holistic service and solutions provider, with the potential to act as a platform for technical exchanges.

About ARLANXEO

ARLANXEO is a world-leading synthetic rubber company with sales of around EUR 2.8 billion in 2015, about 3,800 employees and a presence at 20 production sites in nine countries. The company’s core business is the development, manufacturing and marketing of high-performance rubber for use in, for example, the automotive and tire industries, the construction industry, and the oil and gas industries. ARLANXEO was established in April 2016 as a joint venture of LANXESS and Saudi Aramco.

ARLANXEO China was established in August 2016. The EPDM plant in Changzhou, China has a nameplate capacity of 160,000 metric tons per year and commenced operations in 2015.