German specialty chemicals major Lanxess is one of the leading suppliers of high-tech plastics for the automotive and electronic industries. In this interview, Pankaj Khare, Head of Sales & Marketing - High Performance Materials, Lanxess India, talks about innovation in plastic material technology and applications of engineering plastics in automotive industry.

 

Kindly share with us products & services offered by High Performance Materials (HPM) business unit (BU) of Lanxess.

 

The HPM BU of Lanxess is one of the leading suppliers of high-tech plastics for the automotive and electronic industries, operating through 7 production facilities in Europe, USA, India, China and Brazil. In India, we have our manufacturing facility in Jhagadia, Gujarat. The plant was set up in 2012 and is one of the biggest engineering polymer compounding plant in India. With a wide range of high performance materials under brands namely Durethan and Pocan, we at Lanxess, develop solutions that are making vehicles lighter and safer. Lanxess’ hybrid technology combines plastics with metals, which has already been implemented in several vehicle models worldwide. This technology thus constitutes intelligent lightweight construction with outstanding material properties, which reduces both consumption of fuel and CO2 emissions. 

 

More than 40 million hybrid components in 70 vehicle classes can now be found on roads around the world. In many countries, metal car parts like air intake manifolds, oil module, door handles, oil pans, coolant water pipes, fuel tank, thermostat housing, fuel rail, roof frames, accelerator & brake pedal blocks etc have been successfully replaced with Durethan and Pocan from Lanxess. 

 

Known for its backward integration, the HPM business unit prides in offering high-end solutions to its stakeholders. Thanks to our efficient production facilities and intensive product and application development processes, we are one of the prominent suppliers in our field. The HPM compounding plant in Jhagadia, Gujarat has a total capacity of 20,000 MT and produces Durethan (engineering plastics based on polyamide 6 and 66) and Pocan (engineering plastics based on polybutylene terephthalate). The customer is also provided with computer-aided simulation, testing and validation of auto parts, from our technology center in Hong Kong and is also supported in process optimisation.

 

What is driving the demand for engineering plastics in India? 

 

The plastics industry is growing at an exponential rate as it is becoming the material for choice because of its distinctive properties. The competition in this industry too, is growing. The penetration level of plastic products is low in the Indian market, due to which the per capita consumption in India is low. This low consumption rate also signifies the fact that there is scope for an industry boost. The major drivers of the plastic industry have been automotive industry, packaging industry, electronics & electricals, infrastructure and agriculture. The growth of plastics is encouraged by the favourable cost benefit ratio and a versatile range of applications, and also due to higher penetration of plastics in various manufacturing and end use segments.

 

What are the key challenges before plastics industry?

 

India is a huge opportunity with a young population with more disposable income, a growing middle class and skilled manpower that helps deliver competitive products. The government’s support to the auto industry is also adding value. OEMs in India demand expertise and experience in polymer science, application development along with local manufacturing presence in India. We are the ideal partners

for them.

 

The challenges in India are the circumstances which are beyond our reach. The sudden rise in dollar-rupee exchange rates that was seen in mid-2013 is an example. We start working with OEMs and tier 1 suppliers at an early stage and the development cycle sometimes is as large as 2-3 years. Events happening at the end of a development cycle or start of production of vehicle are sometimes beyond our control but do have influence on our business.

 

How is the demand for engineering plastics from auto industry in India?

 

Indian engineering plastics market is expected to have a CAGR of over 13% from 2015 – 2020. Engineering plastics are used in India in diverse industries such as automotive, electrical & electronics, construction, etc.  

 

Are you seeing a rise in demand for your products from auto industry?

 

As a leader in specialty chemicals, Lanxess enjoys a strong presence in the automotive sector and its products play an important role in the manufacturing of cars. Following the global megatrend, it is committed to supplying high-performance materials that greatly contribute to the improvement of our ecological environment, in the hope that with its professional expertise in chemistry and multiple state-of-the-art technologies we can help make modern and sustained mobility a reality. At Lanxess, we believe that ‘green mobility’ is where the core of future competitiveness lies.

 

What are your growth plans for HPM business unit (BU) of Lanxess in India?

 

The Indian OEMs are opting for better technical support in their endeavor to reduce weight, offer better quality, improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. With this increase in demand for quality products, we see a good potential for quality engineering plastics & related services in the Indian market. Lanxess offers not only world class engineering polymer solutions but also supports in expertise and knowledge to enable auto OEMs to convert metal parts to plastics without diluting the specifications.

 

There is a huge potential in both the passenger car as well as the two-wheeler segments. In India, we have been working with major two-wheeler manufacturers to convert many metal parts like grab handle, foot rest, air intake manifold, fenders, cylinder head cover etc. to plastics. Two-wheeler industry in India is also very strong and considering this, we have developed some unique applications over the years. 

 

Our first single layer blow molded PA6 fuel tank for two-wheeler was developed last year in India for Bajaj KTM and the requirements were very unique because Bajaj KTM was to export these bikes to US where EPA (Environmental protection agency) norms on permeability were so stringent that normal fuel tanks in HDPE could not serve the purpose. This is where the polymer solutions provider like Lanxess comes into picture. Our grade Durethan BC 550Z 900116 DUSXBL, not only fitted the specification well but also offered a higher impact strength, excellent mechanical properties, high process ability& good mechanical strength. This grade has outstanding low permeability against gasoline and has good resistance to swelling for non-ethanol blended fuel.

 

We are focused on innovative materials for applications in the automotive, two-wheelers & electrical/electronics industry where we are working on optimised, tailor-made grades, for eg highly reinforced polyamides for mechanically stressed parts, new materials for LED components and hydrolysis-stabilised PBT for engine compartment parts. 

 

Lanxess is also a leading supplier of light-weighting technology to the automotive industry. As automotive manufacturers have gradually shifted their focus from just using metals to using metals combined with plastics, Lanxess’ Durethan plastic compounds can already be found in car parts in combination with steel or aluminum. We have already achieved the preferred automotive raw materials supplier status with most of the tier I automotive manufacturers and we want to replicate the same in the two-wheeler industry as well as electrical & electronics industry.

 

News Snippet

 

Thermoplastic composites market to reach $ 42 bn by 2022

 

The global thermoplastic composites market to grow from $ 28.09 billion in 2017 to $ 41.93 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 8.34% between 2017 and 2022, according to MarketsandMarkets report. Thermoplastic composites offer several advantages unlike thermoset composites, which include less production time for the development of different components using thermoplastic composites, high impact strength of thermoplastic composites, their easy recyclability, and their low moisture absorption rate. Thermoplastic composites are used in the transportation industry as these materials are lightweight and help reduce the weight of automobiles, thereby 

resulting in decreased CO2 emissions and increased fuel efficiency of vehicles. The aerospace & defense application segment of the thermoplastic composites market is projected to witness the highest growth in terms of both, value as well as volume due to increasing use of thermoplastic composites in different types of commercial aircraft. Thus, the increased use of thermoplastic composites in various applications such as transportation, and aerospace & defense, among others is driving the growth of the thermoplastic compositesmarket across the globe.