As planned, German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess has revised its organizational structure to reflect the incorporation of activities acquired with US flame retardant and additives specialist Chemtura. With the portfolio shift, the two former business lines Rubber Additives Business (RAB) and Colorant Additives Business (CAB) have been merged into the company’s RheinChemie arm, which functions as a business unit.

Lanxess said the aim is to adopt a more targeted approach and stronger customer focus. In future, RheinChemie will cover specialty business with active ingredient compounds, specialty chemicals and processing aids for the rubber, plastics and colorants industries.  The 125-year-old company, spun out of Bayer like Lanxess, will remain the umbrella brand for rubber and colorants business.

Remarking that the rubber and colorants business lines have similar requirements, Philipp Junge, who has headed the Rhein Chemie unit since April 2017 and has had responsibility for rubber additives since the end of 2014, said the realignment “caters to our specialized business, which sometimes involves small volumes.”

New head of Colorant Additives Business, Dominik Risse, is returning to the operational side of Lanxess from the Mergers & Acquisitions group. In a prior function as head of Marketing, he had responsibility for the Cologne-based company’s colorants business.

Chemtura’s lubricant and flame retardant additives businesses have been transferred to the Lanxess Additives business unit, which together form the Specialty Additives segment in the company’s new organizational structure.

According to Lanxess, the Rhein Chemie business unit currently has around 1,000 employees and supplies more than 2,000 products to over 3,000 customers in 120 countries.