Tradition with a Future

100 years of experience—the IPG BU wants to use this to tap into new market potential.

Mr. Ertl, LANXESS has been producing iron oxide pigments in Krefeld-Uerdingen using the LAUX process for 100 years. Why is it so successful?
The inventor of the process, Julius Laux, asked a surprisingly modern question some 100 years ago: What if waste wasn’t waste? It all began with the production of aniline from nitrobenzene and scrap iron—a process that generated large quantities of iron oxide as a byproduct. Laux realized that, under certain conditions, this iron oxide is particularly colorful and pure and is suitable as a high-quality pigment. To this day, the process is considered one of the most sustainable methods for producing iron oxide pigments. The combination of recycling metal waste and energy-efficient process steps has made the LAUX process a key factor in our success.

But you don’t just produce pigments in Germany, do you? How important is the global production network to IPG?
Extremely important. We have locations on all five continents. Here in Europe, we still process pigments in Spain and England, as well as in the United States, Brazil, China, and Australia. This geographic diversification is a key advantage, as it enables us to improve our delivery capabilities and makes us more resilient to trade conflicts, sanctions, export restrictions, political instability, or regional crises. At the same time, it is important that Germany remains a competitive location for businesses—especially when it comes to energy costs, which play a key role in our energy-intensive production. That’s why we’re further advancing energy optimization through targeted investments in our plants and processes.

100 years of tradition—where are innovations emerging right now?
We need a wide range of applications to keep our plants running at full capacity. That’s why we’re constantly tapping into new markets—even beyond traditional coloring applications. Battery technology is a perfect example. In addition to iron oxides, iron phosphates can also be used in the manufacture of lithium iron phosphate batteries. Following the successful production of iron phosphate at the pilot plant, IPG is now developing the large-scale process that will be implemented in the production facility. This market is growing rapidly worldwide, so we are actively advancing research in this area. Currently, LFP cathode materials and the corresponding batteries are primarily produced in China. So far, there hasn’t been enough capacity in Europe —and we want to change that.