Specialty chemicals company LANXESS, one of the world’s largest producers of iron oxide pigments, demonstrates its continued commitment to being a sustainably operating supplier and a reliable partner to the concrete industry at this year’s World of Concrete show. This important sector gathering will take place in Las Vegas from January 24-27. There, LANXESS will inform about its broad range of inorganic pigments for the coloration of construction materials, their metering and the associated technical service.

In recent years, the LANXESS Inorganic Pigments business unit (IPG) has continually invested in capacity expansion. It is also driving forward innovation in products and technologies. In this, LANXESS sees sustainability as a key business philosophy. This commitment is demonstrated by its global sustainability strategy and already implemented initiatives. Innovative, resource-friendly production processes and efficiency measures are employed at the IPG production plants around the world. At the company’s iron oxide plant in Porto Feliz, Brazil, the production process is completely carbon-neutral and is fuelled by bagasse, the fibrous parts of the sugarcane plant left over as a by-product of sugar production.

“Our sustainability strategy, along with our high product quality, safety standards and technical service, are areas where we can score well. With our investments in all of our synthesis sites over the last years we support our customers in their growth strategies – and there is more to come,” says Roland Flindt, head of IPG North America.

LANXESS’s Bayferrox pigments offer high tinting strength, are extraordinarily lightfast and weather-stable, and are distinguished by their high quality and simple and environmentally compatible processing. Available in powder, compact pigment and granular forms, they are used to color construction materials such as cast in-situ concrete, pre-cast concrete components, concrete roofing tiles, pavers and asphalt.

IPG’s Global Competence Center Construction provides customers with technical assistance in mixing and metering technology, throughout all stages of the process. In North America, for example, solar reflectance testing as required for many LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) heat island reduction projects is available.

The IPG business unit belongs to LANXESS’s Performance Chemicals segment, which achieved total sales of EUR 1,978 million in fiscal 2010.