German speciality chemicals maker LANXESS on Friday said it was suspending its business activities in Russia due to the war in Ukraine, reported Reuters.
Thus, the company had “suspended business activities with Russian customers as far as contractually possible until further notice” and had suspended all investments in Russia.
Its sales in Russia and Ukraine made up less than 1% of its global sales, it said.
Sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine have fuelled a global surge in wholesale power and gas prices, which chemical companies are attempting to offset by passing the increases on to customers.
As MRC reported before, in October 2021, specialty chemicals company LANXESS and energy company bp entered into a strategic partnership for the use of sustainable raw materials in high-tech plastics production. bp will supply sustainably produced cyclohexane to the LANXESS’ production site in Antwerp, Belgium, starting in the fourth quarter of 2021. The sustainable origin of the raw materials is certified according to ISCC Plus rules (“International Sustainability and Carbon Certification”). With this partnership, both companies, which already have a long-standing business relationship, want to significantly advance the production of sustainable plastics.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of unmixed PVC was about 999,300 tonnes in 2021, up by 7% year on year. The emulsion and suspension PVC market showed stronger demand, despite over a twofold price increase. December estimated SPVC consumption was 81,200 tonnes (excluding deliveries to the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan) versus 74,690 tonnes a month earlier.
LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 74 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. Through Arlanxeo, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, Lanxess is also a leading supplier of synthetic rubber.
MRC