"In relation to thermoplastics, polyamide and PBT, the last decade has seen a consistent and continuous growth of the world market of 7 per cent a year"

The chemical group Lanxess, specializing in the areas of high-tech plastics, rubber and chemical, plastics universal explains the situation on the market of plastics and is the position of the company to level world and specifically in Spain.

The Lanxess chemical group has its headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany. In Spain is composed of Lanxess Holding Hispania, S.L., Lanxess Chemicals, S.L., and Europigments, S.L. It has its offices in the World Trade Center building, next to the port of Barcelona, from where most of the business units are managed.

Lanxess business areas are grouped around three main segments: Advanced Intermediates and Performance Chemicals, Performance Polymers.

LANXESS is a multinational with a strong presence in Europe (more than 50 percent of its sales), and also well positioned in the Americas and Asia. The most prominent growth taking place in Asia, where Lanxess is focusing its strategy to become one of the leading companies in the chemical industry sector. For now our efforts are being widely rewarded with growth in sales of two-digit number in that region.

Performance Polymers, whose range of semi-crystalline plastics and rubber products account for approximately half of the global business of VEGAN is the main market of Lanxess.

Second are the products of Performance Chemicals, with a wide and diversified range of chemicals for the construction industry, tanning, the automotive sector, protection of materials, etc.

Advanced Intermediates segment comprises fine chemical and basic chemicals business, both very important and a solid manufacturing structure and advanced technology.

LANXESS in Spain is one of Struts Europe's markets, with significant presence in the market of the rubber, plastic and pigments. LANXESS has always considered the Spanish market as strategic. We have an important specific weight in the parent company and we are very much present in the strategic plans of the European region.

Even in difficult times like those affecting the world economy, the performance of Lanxess, both globally and in Spain is enviable and we continue to grow in our strategic sectors. For example, sales in the Iberian region in the first half rose 4.7 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The last quarter of this year will not be easy, but I assure you that we are well structured to confront firmly the difficulties in the markets that can come.

Thermoplastics, polyamide and PBT relevant to our company, the last decade has seen a steady and consistent growth of the world market that we estimate about 7 percent a year.

This development has been favoured so far not only by the sustained growth of the global economy, but also for the continuous development of technologies which replace materials by the polyamide and the PBT (for example wood, metal and other types of non-hardenable plastics). In this sense, Lanxess is particularly active and has in its portfolio material reinforced with glass fibre and minerals that are adapted to this objective.

More in particular and in reference to the European market, there are today two trends differentiated growth between Western Europe and the former Eastern bloc countries. Economic growth East general joins the effect of the relocation of production from Western countries. For example in Poland and Slovakia, recipient countries of production, the upward trend is surely more than 10 percent. On the other hand, in countries of Western Europe growth is currently lower and especially in the Spanish market because of an unfavourable situation in which we cannot speak of growth but building market.

Personally, I think that in the next 2-3 years we will see the stabilization of the market with the result of the reduction in the number of customers/suppliers involved in the process of supply of our sector. Nowadays refers to a very unfavourable situation by the rising costs of raw materials, energy and transport as well as the crisis of financial markets. But we believe that, as regards plastics, this crisis will be overcome with some speed because already in the past we have faced periods of slowdown that we have been always optimizing our resources, consolidating productionincreasing efficiency and always carrying our clients innovative and economically advantageous solutions.

In a time of profound changes and that we are living, I think that the basic concept of the added value has not changed: the customer service. If you can reach your customers with products adapted to your needs, you are adding value to your company.

Scaremongering will not solve problems but we must not err on the side of irresponsible. What really concerns me of the current situation is not so much the reasons for the crisis, but great uncertainty in the markets when assessing the duration and intensity of the problem. Sometimes, this uncertainty is worse than the problems themselves.

LANXESS is a company with willingness to grow and position in the ranking of the greats of the sector. To this end, the strategy is to grow organically, by investing in the business related to our main performance, and also through external growth, with acquisitions of companies that are compatible with our essential activities, without discarding even large companies. We are interested in not so much size, but it fit with the business that we have, with what we do.