LEVERKUSEN, Germany/NINBGO, China – German specialty chemicals company LANXESS, Leverkusen, Germany, is expanding its global production network for inorganic pigments in China. A new high-tech facility for premium iron oxide red pigments is being constructed at the Ningbo Chemical Park, Ningbo, China.

LANXESS will manufacture iron oxide red pigments at the new plant using an improved and sustainable Penniman process. The plant will initially have an annual capacity of 25,000 metric tons. The investment of about EUR 55 million will create 150 new jobs. Construction will begin in the second quarter 2013. The production startup is scheduled for the first quarter of 2015.

Ningbo, located in the coastal province of Zhejiang, is China's second-largest cargo port. The location for the new plant is the Ningbo Petrochemical Economic & Technological Development Zone (NPEDZ). The new LANXESS site will initially cover roughly seven hectares. A further plot of similar size has been reserved for potential expansion.