BASF plans changes to its butanediol value chain and plasticizers business
BASF is to discontinue the production of diethylhexylphthalate (DEHP) and the associated alcohol 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) in Europe in the third quarter of 2005. The 2-EH plant in Ludwigshafen, which has an annual capacity of 200,000 metric tons per year, will be shut down and dismantled beginning in October 2005.
At the same time BASF plans to close down several production facilities at its site in Feluy, Belgium, where the company no longer considers it possible to competitively manufacture phthalic anhydride, plasticizers, fumaric acid and butanediol derivatives. Maleic anhydride will, however, continue to be produced at the site. This move is being planned in view of the stagnation of European markets, excess capacities around the world, and the unfavorable cost structure of the Feluy site.
European producers and customers have increasingly been replacing the plasticizer DEHP with alternative products, in particular with C9 and C10 phthalates. This has caused the DEHP market to decrease by 50 percent since 2000.
The restructuring in Europe will have no effect on BASF's plasticizer portfolio in NAFTA and Asia, where the company will continue to offer 2-EH and DEHP.
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