МОSCOW (MRC) -- Lanxess plans to expand capacity for Oxone monopersulfate - a main active ingredient for disinfectants, said the company.
Due to the continuous strong demand for disinfectants, specialty chemicals company Lanxess is planning to expand its production capacity for Oxone monopersulfate by around 50 percent. To this end, the company intends to invest a lower double-digit million euro sum in its production facility in Memphis, USA.
Lanxess uses Oxone monopersulfate as the main active ingredient in many of its Virkon and Rely+On disinfection products. Demand for these products has increased significantly in recent months due to, amongst others, the outbreak of African swine fever as well as the corona pandemic. The company also sells Oxone as a powerful oxidizing agent for numerous other applications. The capacity expansion is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022.
“Disinfection products are important growth drivers in our highly profitable Consumer Protection segment. We expect a sustainable high level of demand even after the corona pandemic,” said Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Lanxess Board of Management.
Michael Schafer, head of Lanxess Material Protection Products business unit, added: “We are also seeing a growing demand for Oxone in the water treatment sector as well as from the electronics and paper industries. We want to meet this demand by expanding our production capacity."
Lanxess also offers disinfectants for human health: The product Rely+On Virkon is used in hospitals, laboratories, public institutions and for medical equipment. It is proven to completely inactivate the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in only 60 seconds.
Oxone is used, for example, to clean pool water, thereby reducing the use of chlorine. In the electronics industry, it is applied to prepare surfaces within the production process of printed circuit boards. Paper manufacturers use the product to effectively break down paper products containing wet strength resins during paper reprocessing. In addition, Oxone is a primary component of denture cleansers. Demand in these industries is growing, not least because regulatory requirements are becoming stricter and customers increasingly prefer chlorine-free oxidation solutions.
The expansion will meet growing demand for disinfectants and be completed in the second half of 2022.
Russia's output of chemical products rose in June 2020 by 2.6% year on year. However, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 4.9% in the first six months of 2020. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the output in January-June. Production of benzene was 106,000 tonnes in June 2020, compared to 110,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of this product reached 721,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.9% year on year.