Lanxess to sell urethane unit to Ube

Lanxess has agreed to sell its urethane systems business to the Japanese firm Ube for about $550 million. The business has annual sales of $275 million and five sites across the US, Europe, and China that produce ingredients for polyurethane elastomers, coatings, and adhesives. Lanxess says urethane systems was its last polymer unit. Ube says the business will complement its plan to build a plant in the US that makes dimethyl carbonate, a specialty urethane raw material.