The Group is planning the biggest single investment in the company's history at the Industriegebiet Nord industrial estate in Kaiserslautern.
FUCHS LUBRITECH, part of the FUCHS PETROLUB Group with its head office in Weilerbach/Kaiserslautern has been demonstrating consistent growth for years. As such, the first expansion of capacity became necessary in 2002, leading to the transfer of some of FUCHS LUBRITECH's production areas to the Industriegebiet Nord in Kaiserslautern. This facility is now to undergo major expansion to offer scope for thecompany's entire Weilerbach production. This is the logical step which will allow the company to keep pace with the continuing healthy growth in international demand forspecial lubricants.
Because of limited space, expansion at Weilerbach itself is out of the question. Once the facilities have been completed in Kaiserslautern, the Weilerbach site will be clearedand restructured as part of a "rededication project? between FUCHS LUBRITECH, Kaiserslautern Technical University and the Weilerbach local authorities.
As part of the transfer of production, all of the research and development departments, currently based in Weilerbach, will also be moving to new premises in the Industriegebiet Nord. A modern building complex is being built there to house laboratories, test facilities and offices, as well as a training centre for clients and staff. In addition, the company is investing in a modern logistics centre.
With an investment of over €20 million, this project represents the largest singleinvestment in the FUCHS PETROLUB Group's history. For this project, in addition to the existing area of 22,500 m², FUCHS LUBRITECH is acquiring expansion space of 33,500 m² and also has an option on a further 25,000 m². As such, the ground work for the company's future is being laid, ensuring that the jobs of the existing 180 employees are secured over the long term and that 25 further jobs will be created in the medium term.
FUCHS LUBRITECH, which provides around 10% of the FUCHS PETROLUB Group's total sales revenues, currently employs more than 400 people worldwide. The corporate group is owned 100% by FUCHS PETROLUB AG in Mannheim. As anorganizational unit, FUCHS LUBRITECH represents one of the core components of the Group's special lubricants business.
FUCHS LUBRITECH is one of the world's leading producers of special lubricants and release agents for all industrial applications from the automotive and construction industries to machine engineering and agriculture.
The range includes concrete release agents, adhesive lubricants, lubricating fluids and greases, pastes, solid film lubricants, aerosols, products for the glass industry and forming lubricants - in all more than 1,000 specialties each precisely designed for a specific purpose. And environmental conservation plays a major role too - not onlyduring manufacture, but also in the earlier phases of research and development.
FUCHS PETROLUB is by far the world's largest independent supplier of lubricants. In 2006 the Group, then comprising 54 operating companies, achieved sales revenues of €1.3 billion. At present the Group has 38 production sites. As at 30 September 2007 the Group employed 3,820 people worldwide.
Further information: www.fuchs-lubritech.com
Mannheim, 21 December 2007
FUCHS PETROLUB AG
Public Relations
Friesenheimer Str. 17
68169 Mannheim
Phone: ++49 (0) 621 3802 - 105
The press release can also be found on the Internet at www.fuchs-oil.de.
Important note
This press release contains statements about future development that are based onassumptions and estimates by the management of FUCHS PETROLUB AG. Even if the management is of the opinion that these assumptions and estimates are accurate, future actualdevelopments and future actual results may differ significantly from these assumptions and estimates due to a variety of factors. These factors can include changes to the overall economicclimate, changes to exchange rates and interest rates and changes in the lubricants industry. FUCHS PETROLUB AG provides no guarantee that future developments and the resultsactually achieved in the future will agree with the assumptions and estimates set out in this press release and assumes no liability for such.