There will be a change in management at three of the 14 business units of specialty chemicals company LANXESS.

Dr. Ron Commander (62), Head of the Butyl Rubber business unit (BTR), will enter retirement at the end of this year and until then will  take on a new role within the company based in Canada, effective July 1, 2013.

“Ron Commander has played a key role in LANXESS’ successful growth story,” said Dr. Axel C. Heitmann, LANXESS’ Chairman of the Board of Management. “With the opening ceremony of the most modern butyl rubber plant in the world on June 4, the construction and expansion of three world-scale plants on three continents have been completed on time and on budget. LANXESS is therefore reaching another key milestone. On behalf of the Board of Management, I would like to thank Commander for his tremendous contribution to the company and I am delighted that he will still be available to us as an advisor, with his many years of experience in the rubber industry.”

Dr. Guenther Weymans (55), who is currently Head of the Keltan Elastomers business unit (KEL) based in Geleen in the Netherlands, will succeed Dr. Commander as Head of BTR based in Singapore as of July 1. Weymans successfully completed the integration of the EPDM-business from DSM, including the implementation of innovative ACE-technology.

The successor to Dr. Weymans as Head of the Keltan Elastomers business unit is Dr. Torsten Derr, effective June 1. The 43-year-old is currently responsible for the LANXESS Material Protection Products business unit (MPP), which he successfully realigned and expanded.

Dr. Derr’s position as Head of MPP will be taken over by Mr. Michael Schaefer (38), effective May 1. Mr. Schaefer is currently responsible for the business line Biocides at the business unit MPP.

Dr. Heitmann: “The Board of Management thanks Messrs. Weymans, Derr and Schaefer for their excellent work in recent years and wishes them ongoing success in their new roles.”

There will also be a change at the head of LANXESS’ activities in Singapore. The current Country Representative, Mr. Ian Wood (61), will be succeeded by Mr. Par Singh (52), effective September 1, 2013. Mr. Singh has held senior positions in the chemical industry for many years, with his last managerial role as Senior Vice President Manufacturing Europe, Asia & International Region at LyondellBasell based in Germany. His experience will be of great benefit to LANXESS in Singapore, where the company is investing some EUR 600 million in two world-scale plants.

“Ian Wood has done an excellent job in positioning LANXESS in Singapore during its important expansion phase,” added Dr. Heitmann. The long-standing Country Representative will in the future take charge of a project to expand business in the ASEAN region.