LANXESS Demonstrates Comprehensive Portfolio of Innovative Products for the China Market

LANXESS demonstrates comprehensive portfolio of innovative products for the China market at Chinaplas 2007

Leverkusen – At Chinaplas 2007 in Guangzhou, four of LANXESS’s business units, Semi-Crystalline Products, Lustran Polymers, Inorganic Pigments and Functional Chemicals, will be showcasing their capabilities as competent suppliers to their Chinese customers. The LANXESS stand (No. 2E209) will feature advanced technologies and innovative applications focusing on an extensive range of polyamides, polyesters, dyes and pigments. As a market undergoing very dynamic development, China has demonstrated outstanding market potential for LANXESS’s wide range of high-quality products and expertise.

The Semi-Crystalline Products business unit, with its high-tech plastics Durethan and Pocan, is one of the largest suppliers of polyamide and polybutylene terephthalates in Asia. The main focus of the business unit at Chinaplas 2007 will be on products and technologies aimed at reducing weight, emissions and costs in automotive construction.

Because of its excellent property profile, Durethan is the material of choice for highly demanding engineering applications. With its excellent stiffness and strength combined with outstanding toughness, Durethan is finding an increasing number of under-the-hood automotive applications. It has been used as an effective substitute for metal.

The latest products are the Durethan Easy Flow and Extreme Flow (PA), and Pocan Easy Flow and Extreme Flow (PTA) grades. With flowability improved by up to 50 percent, these materials facilitate in many cases processes with smaller machines and reduce the wall thickness of components, which leads to a further weight and cost reduction for customers.

In April 2006, LANXESS opened its first compounding plant in Asia in Wuxi, in east China’s Jiangsu Province, with an annual production capacity of 20,000 tons of the engineering plastics Durethan and Pocan. An additional 25,000 tons of compound capacity and a small lot compounding extruder are expected to be launched in the plant in mid 2007, while an R&D Testing Center was already inaugurated on May 17, 2007. The main task for this R&D Testing Center will be testing new products from LANXESS Germany for local applications in China. The market for Durethan and Pocan in China, mainly comprising the automotive, electrical and electronic segments, is expected to maintain an average growth rate of 12 to 15 percent within the next five years.

High-quality material achieves classic brand

LANXESS has now come up with new blends of polyamide and ABS under the name Triax. Triax KU 2-3050 e.g. is a material of choice for car interior parts with a matt finish. The polyamide + ABS blend yields injection-molded parts with a high-grade matt finish, therefore obviating the need to apply a subsequent surface coating. It is a particularly economical alternative to blends of polycarbonate and ABS for this application segment.

Another highlight from Lustran Polymers is mineral-reinforced Triax DP 3157, an online coatable polyamide + ABS blend (PA+ABS) for body parts, from which the fenders of the BMW 3 Series Coupé are manufactured. With its high heat deflection temperature of up to 200 °C, high stiffness, reduced water absorption and low coefficient of thermal expansion, the polyamide + ABS blend satisfies the complex requirements for the on-line painting of plastic automotive body parts.

LANXESS is also showcasing two new soft touch materials called Lustran ST 4566 and Centrex ST 4766 on the stand. Both materials have been primarily designed to be used in applications where they are co-extruded or laminated over an ABS substrate, with the purpose of providing a low gloss look and soft touch feel.

Excellent performance puts environment into permanent color

As one of the world’s leading brands of iron oxide pigments, LANXESS Bayferrox products are widely used in many applications. Additionally, the Colortherm line of UV- and weathering-resistant inorganic colored pigments has proven effective for the coloration of many materials. The products are available in red, yellow, brown and black with high thermal stability, good dispersion and excellent performance, thereby suiting the demands of the plastics processing industry perfectly.

For special applications, LANXESS offers a wide range of “technical oxides”, which have been optimized to comply with the diversified requirements of different applications, from toners in laser printers, ceramics and catalyzers to adsorbents for the treatment of drinking water and effluents. One such adsorber is Bayoxide E 33, which has proved highly successful in filtering arsenic from drinking water in a cost-effective way and offers great advantages for handling this global issue.

Sophisticated technology makes life easier

The Functional Chemicals business unit will be showcasing the comprehensive Macrolex line of products for plastic coloration ranging from transparent to opaque. Macrolex is used in applications with stringent purity requirements, including the coloration of food packaging such as PET bottles and the coloration of children’s toys. Processing of this coloration is enhanced by the good flow behavior, meterability and outstanding dispersibility of the microgranules.

Macrolex Gran is a stepping stone in plastic colorants. As a pioneer of microgranule dyes, it exhibits such major advantages as high efficiency, lower cost and easy processing. Macrolex dyes are compatible with the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the coloration of PET food packaging.

Asia Pacific is a key region for LANXESS. With sales growing to EUR 1.23 billion, Asia’s share of Group sales increased to just under 18 percent in 2006. The boom is being driven by the Chinese and Indian markets, where sales growth reached double figures. The Leverkusen-based chemicals group inaugurated five new plants in China as part of the “LANXESS goes Asia” initiative concluded in April 2006. Moreover, the company is set to recruit up to 1,000 new employees in Asia by 2009.

More information about the Asia initiative of LANXESS:

www.lanxess-goes-asia.de

Information for editors:

All our news releases can be found on the LANXESS homepage at www.lanxess.com under the “Press” button. Any available visual material can also be downloaded from there.

Leverkusen, May 22, 2007

erb (2007-0096e)

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by LANXESS AG management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.