Producer
Lanxess AG
Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; MDAX: LXS; ~€6.7B revenue) is the world's largest EPDM producer through its Keltan brand, holding an estimated 30-35% of global EPDM capacity. Acquired the EPDM business of DSM Elastomers in 2011 in a joint venture with Saudi Aramco (branded Arlanxeo), which was later unwound — Lanxess retaining the Keltan brand. Primary EPDM production at the Chemelot industrial site in Geleen, Netherlands (the former DSM Elastomers facility, one of the world's largest EPDM plants). Keltan EPDM is the benchmark product for automotive radiator hoses, door seals, roofing membranes, and plumbing O-rings and gaskets globally. Lanxess also produces synthetic rubber (butyl, HNBR) and specialty chemicals. Keltan product grades span broad Mooney viscosity and ENB (ethylidene norbornene) diene content ranges, making it versatile across plumbing, automotive, and construction end markets.
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Inputs supplied
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Goods downstream
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Facilities
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Stories
What they make
5 inputs Lanxess AG supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
manufactured
EPDM / Rubber Seals and Gaskets (Plumbing) →
chemical
Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) latex →
chemical
Iron Sulfate (Ferrous Sulfate) →
chemical
Nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) — medical grade →
chemical
Phosphorus Trichloride (PCl3) Synthesis Precursor →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Lanxess AG makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
5 facilities
LANXESS Chemelot Site (Geleen) →
NLLimburg · manufacturing
LANXESS synthetic rubber production at Chemelot industrial complex in Geleen, Netherlands. Produces Likon TM NBR latex and solid NBR. Part of the Rhine-Maas chemical corridor with Dormagen (DE) and Zwijndrecht (BE). Source: https://www.lanxess.com/en/company/sites/chemelot/
LANXESS Dormagen Chemical Complex →
DENorth Rhine-Westphalia · manufacturing
LANXESS primary NBR and Likon TM latex manufacturing site at Chempark Dormagen, North Rhine-Westphalia. One of Germany's largest integrated chemical complexes. Former Bayer asset; produces both solid NBR for industrial seals and NBR latex for glove applications. Source: https://www.lanxess.com/en/company/sites/dormagen/
LANXESS Leverkusen Phosphorus Chemistry Site →
DENorth Rhine-Westphalia · manufacturing
LANXESS primary phosphorus chemistry production site at Leverkusen (former Bayer AG chemicals complex). Produces PCl3 and downstream phosphorus chemistry including flame retardants and crop protection intermediates. LANXESS became the largest Western PCl3 producer after the 2012 Thermphos bankruptcy removed European competition. Site is subject to OPCW Schedule 3 chemical declaration requirements. Source: LANXESS Annual Report 2023; OPCW Schedule 3 facility declarations.
Lanxess Butyl / EPDM-Adjacent — Orange, TX Facility →
USTexas · manufacturing
Lanxess synthetic rubber manufacturing at Orange, Texas (part of Lanxess's North American elastomers footprint). The Orange facility primarily produces butyl and halobutyl rubber but shares know-how, workforce, and supply chain infrastructure with Lanxess's EPDM operations. In periods of EPDM supply tightness, North American customers increasingly reference Orange TX as the nearest Lanxess production geography. Source: https://lanxess.com/en/locations/north-america/orange-tx
Lanxess Keltan EPDM Plant — Chemelot Site (Geleen, Netherlands) →
NLLimburg · manufacturing
Lanxess Keltan EPDM production facility at the Chemelot industrial site in Geleen, Netherlands (formerly DSM Elastomers, acquired by Lanxess in 2011 JV with Saudi Aramco). This is the single largest EPDM production facility in Europe and one of the largest worldwide. The Chemelot site hosts over 40 chemical companies on a shared infrastructure platform — ethylene pipeline, steam, effluent treatment — making it both highly efficient and a single-point dependency. Keltan EPDM capacity at Geleen is estimated at ~350,000 tonnes/year. Disruption to the Chemelot site (industrial accident, regulatory shutdown, infrastructure failure) would remove a dominant share of European EPDM supply simultaneously for automotive, roofing, and plumbing supply chains. Source: https://www.chemelot.nl/en/companies/lanxess
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
EPDM Rubber (Keltan Brand - World Leader)
30%Specialty Rubber & Nitrile
20%Flame Retardants (PCl3-Derived, Chemtura Acquisition)
25%Specialty Chemicals & Other
25%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2023
LANXESS Keltan EPDM rubber is the sealing material in three completely separate infrastructure systems: automobile radiator hoses (automotive supply chain), plumbing water system O-rings and gaskets (building construction supply chain), and EPDM single-ply roofing membranes (commercial roofing supply chain). Auto OEM engineers, plumbing fixture manufacturers, and commercial roofing contractors all specify Keltan EPDM from LANXESS Chemelot without knowing they share a supplier. A production disruption at the Geleen, Netherlands EPDM plant -- the single largest EPDM facility in the world -- would simultaneously affect automotive cooling system components, plumbing seal supply, and commercial roofing installation capacity. These three construction and manufacturing sectors would each face EPDM allocation challenges independently and competitively, without coordinating their procurement response to a shared supply disruption.
LANXESS AG ↗Incident2022
LANXESS AG inherited the largest remaining European PCl3 production capacity by default when Thermphos International (Vlissingen, Netherlands) went bankrupt in December 2012. LANXESS had not sought this market position — it simply survived. The Thermphos bankruptcy was caused by the same Chinese low-cost competition that had forced Thermphos's parent Prayon (Belgium) to sell off the unit, and that eventually drove Thermphos's Dutch management into insolvency. Post-Thermphos, LANXESS's Leverkusen PCl3 operation — originally built as part of Bayer AG's integrated chemistry platform before the 2004 Bayer/LANXESS spinoff — became the anchor European supply source. LANXESS subsequently expanded its PCl3-derived flame retardant portfolio (acquiring Chemtura's flame retardant business in 2019 for ~$2.7B) to capture downstream value from PCl3 captive use. The Thermphos episode is a case study in how a single bankruptcy in a niche industrial chemical can permanently restructure a regional supply chain.
LANXESS AG ↗Origin2023
LANXESS AG was created in 2004 when Bayer AG spun off its chemicals and polymer divisions to focus on life sciences -- the same strategic logic that drove German chemical companies to divest commodity chemicals while retaining pharmaceutical and agricultural chemistry. LANXESS inherited Bayer's EPDM, synthetic rubber, and specialty chemical operations, including the Keltan EPDM business which Bayer had acquired through DSM Elastomers. LANXESS then acquired Chemtura's flame retardant business in 2019 for $2.7B -- adding PCl3-derived phosphorus flame retardants to its portfolio following Chemtura's bankruptcy (Chemtura had filed Chapter 11 in 2009 partly due to asbestos liability from its Great Lakes Chemical heritage). A Bayer spinoff that acquired a bankrupt US flame retardant company's assets is now the world's largest EPDM producer and a major phosphorus flame retardant supplier -- two supply chains with no obvious connection except their common Cologne headquarters.
LANXESS AG ↗