Germany-based synthetic rubber pioneer LANXESS sees the “Tires and Rubber 2011” fair in Moscow as a huge opportunity to showcase itself in a highly promising growth market as one of the most innovative technology leaders in the industry. LANXESS is one of the last big polymer manufacturers to expressly consider rubber a core business. The company is continuing the legacy of synthetic rubber inventor Fritz Hofmann and today brings together globally unique experience in the field of tire and special-purpose rubber and rubber chemicals, essential for optimizing modern elastomer compounds. Among the LANXESS products setting trends in modern rubber technology are energy-saving tire rubbers, which at the same time increase vehicle safety. The LANXESS portfolio also includes rubber raw materials that protect tires from premature pressure loss and robust and weather, chemical and ozone-resistant special-purpose rubbers for seals, hoses, v-belts, toothed belts, tank linings and much more besides. Rubber chemicals from LANXESS make vulcanization easier, for example, and protect rubber from premature aging. LANXESS products are also in many cases suitable substitutes for rubber chemicals with problematic properties.

“The Russian market has enormous potential,” said Christoph Kalla, head of Marketing in LANXESS’ Performance Butadiene Rubbers business unit. “The need for tires will grow further in this global region. At the same time, resource management in Russia is a topic that is steadily increasing in importance. This makes us the perfect partner for the local rubber industry: LANXESS products help to save fuel and make winter tires safer – and generally give tires a longer service life. Examples include new SSBR rubber grades that can be excellently combined with silica filler, reducing the rolling resistance of tires without adversely affecting abrasion and road holding, which was a major problem with many preceding generations of tire rubbers. New neodymium-polybutadiene rubbers (Nd-BR) also help to reduce rolling resistance thanks to a particularly regular molecular structure imparted to them by LANXESS technology. Butyl rubber from LANXESS keeps the air pressure in tires constant for longer – this also has a positive effect on fuel consumption. 

LANXESS’ HNBR elastomer Therban helps to increase the service life of toothed belts used under the hood in the ever hotter conditions found near the engine, while oil and chemical-resistant rubber grades are proving their worth, for example, in hoses that convey aggressive media which would cause conventional rubber to swell or become brittle. Seals made out of LANXESS’ EPDM rubber Buna EP withstand UV light and ozone longer than those made of natural rubber thanks to their chemical structure. Antioxidants, vulcanization accelerators, plasticizers and antiozonants from LANXESS and its subsidiary Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH based in Mannheim, Germany, help high-tech rubbers achieve top performance, while many specialty chemicals in Rhein Chemie's Rhenogran and Rhenocure ranges offer toxicologically safe alternatives to problematic specialty chemicals, impressing as vulcanization accelerators for acrylic and chloroprene rubber, among other applications. According to Lueckgen from Rhein Chemie’s Rubber Division: “We consider Russia as a growth market. With our broad product portfolio and our innovative high quality products we are perfectly prepared to participate in that growth.”

“LANXESS not only offers solutions in the form of advanced rubber raw materials but also provides experts who work side by side with our customers and help them get the best out of their products,” added Christoph Kalla. “For that reason we want to use “Tires and Rubber 2011” as an opportunity to talk more closely to our customers in order to work with them to develop solutions for the Russian market. At the same time, our customers can benefit from our global network. I find it fascinating to discover time and again how similar the needs of our global customers are. Here, we offer a window that offers expanding companies important perspectives,” added Kalla. Rubber experts like Kalla and Lueckgen do not see the fair as one-way traffic, however. Kalla continued: “We are also interested in further applications in which at the moment other materials are used. We would like to learn more in this context and help to increase added value through our rubber expertise – for example in the field of conveyor belts for ore transport or in the growing market for consumer goods. We are certain that with our materials and additives our customers will be able to raise a number of new treasures.”