Specialty chemicals maker Lanxess, Leverkusen, Germany, announced today that it plans to expand the global capacity of its high performance Neodymium Polybutadiene rubber by an additional 50,000 m. tons/yr. at sites in Dormagen, Germany; Orange, Texas; and Cabo, Brazil.  

The company said it sees growing demand for the rubber – about 10% per year – and a product shortage could occur by 2014 under those growth rates.  

Most of the new demand for Nd-PBR comes from the automotive industry, specifically for high performance tires.  Recent legislation approved in the European Union requires that by November 2012 new tires sold in Europe will have to be labeled for fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise.  Similar legislation has been discussed in the U.S. with the aim of reducing CO2 and noise emissions by promoting green tires.  Lanxess said its Nd-PBR is used as part of a performance tire compound that reduces energy consumption more efficiently than many other tire rubbers and it also reduces tire abrasion, which contributes to making cars safer, more ecological and more economical.  

Lanxess will install the new capacities between the first quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.  It did not provide specific expansion figures for each plant, nor did the company say if any new jobs will be created as a result of the expansion.  The new capacity will cost about 20 million euros ($27.2 million) to install.