Specialty chemicals group LANXESS is one of the world’s biggest supplier of chrome ore for  the chemical industry and a leading producer of chrome chemicals. In South Africa LANXESS is the only company to handle the entire value chain from the chrome ore to the leather tanning materials. The chrome chain starts with the mining of the raw material, chrome ore, at the mine in Rustenburg. At the Newcastle plant, the most modern chrome chemicals production facility in the world, the ore is processed into sodium dichromate and chromic acid. Sodium dichromate is shipped to LANXESS’ plant in Merebank, near Durban, and used in the production of chrome tanning salts for the global leather tanning industry.

The mine at Rustenburg supplies as well LANXESS’ facilities at Zárate in Argentina, where sodium dichromate and chrome tanning salts are manufactured. Sodium dichromate from Newcastle is also used at LANXESS’ plant in Krefeld-Uerdingen in Germany to manufacture chrome oxide pigments. The chrome compounds manufactured at the two sites are used not only for leather chemicals, but also by LANXESS’ Inorganic Pigments business unit for the production of chrome oxide green pigments. These pigments are highly valued for their good light fastness properties and are used to color concrete, plastics and coatings, for example.

Lanxess is also a global leader in the manufacturing and distribution of rubber chemicals. In South Africa the Business Unit Rubber Chemicals runs a production facility located at Isithebe in northern Kwazulu-Natal where rubber chemicals are produced for the tire industry and for technical rubber producers world wide.

The South African sales office is headquartered in Modderfontein (Johannesburg).