Future of South Africa chrome mine unclear after Lan - leatherbiz: Lea Leatherbiz

News

Future of South Africa chrome mine unclear after Lanxess deal

14/08/2019
Future of South Africa chrome mine unclear after Lanxess deal
Leather chemicals company Lanxess has confirmed that the proposed sale of its chrome chemicals business to Chinese manufacturer Brother Enterprises does not include the chrome mine it owns and runs in Rustenburg in South Africa.

Brother Enterprises will take over the Lanxess factory in the South African city of Newcastle as part of the proposed deal, which is subject to approval by the regulatory authorities. The Newcastle facility employs 220 people and makes sodium dichromate from chrome ore mined in Rustenburg.

Until 2024 at least, Lanxess will keep ownership of another factory in South Africa, located at Merebank, saying it will continue to make chrome tanning salts there under contract to Brother Enterprises.

However, in the formal announcement about the deal, which Lanxess made on August 12, it said nothing about Rustenburg. In response to a question about the future of the mine from leatherbiz, Lanxess said: “The chrome ore mine in Rustenburg is not part of the transaction with Brother Enterprises. We are considering strategic options for the mine at the moment.”


Related stories:

Buyer emerges for the Lanxess organic leather chemicals business 13/08/2020
Lanxess predicts leather trends for spring-summer 21 11/12/2019
Lanxess unveils raft of products ahead of ACLE 29/08/2019
Chrome-tanned leather loses its best defender 15/08/2019
Third-largest chrome salts supplier makes Lanxess move 13/08/2019
Major leather chemicals announcement from Lanxess 13/08/2019

Leatherbiz.com cannot be held responsible for content if the language setting is changed from English.

The translations provided by Google Translate are automated and therefore might not be accurate and may contain incorrect, offensive or misleading language. We offer this facility as a guide only.