New senior appointment at Lanxess
Specialty chemicals group Lanxess has appointed Dr Wolfgang Oehlert vice president for the inorganic pigments business unit for Asia Pacific, effective March 1. He has also been named general manager of Lanxess Shanghai Pigments Co. Ltd.
Mr Oehlert replaces Dr Rolf Haselhorst, who has served as general manager for Lanxess Shanghai Pigments since 2002. Mr Haselhorst was instrumental in the successful acquisition of the inorganic pigments plant in Jinshan in June 2008 and the consecutive formation of Lanxess Specialty Chemicals. Mr Haselhorst will return to the business unit’s headquarters in Krefeld, Germany, to take responsibility for strategic projects.
Dr Oehlert started his career with Bayer in Krefeld in1992 as a research manager for iron oxide pigments, moving on with leading positions in technical functions and production. In 1998, he transferred to Bayer Corporation in the USA to take over the responsibility for the production unit at the New Martinsville, West Virginia site. In 2001, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was responsible for the technical service, product and quality management of the colorants businesses, as well as serving as plant manager for the blending unit in Imperial, Pennsylvania.
He returned to Krefeld in 2003, and undertook responsibility for the global supply chain management of the inorganic pigments business unit. He was responsible for the all supply chain functions including production planning, inventory management, customer service and related functions.
The inorganic pigments business unit belongs to the performance chemicals segment, which achieved total sales of almost €2 billion in 2007.
