Lanxess Continues Restructuring Plan

In the second phase of an ongoing cost-cutting program, Lanxess will close an ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber plant in Marl, Germany, and reconfigure neodymium-based polybutadiene rubber (Nd-PBR) production at plants in Brazil, France, Germany, Singapore, and the U.S. About 140 jobs will be cut. In the end, Lanxess will have one plant each for EPDM and Nd-PBR in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. The German firm says it has largely completed the first phase of the program, which eliminated about 1,000 jobs worldwide. In the program’s third phase, the company hopes to find rubber business partners.