With the expansion of production capacity for vitamin A by 25 % in Ludwigshafen, Germany, BASF reacts to the rising demand for high-quality vitamin A products as well as to global market growth. For this purpose, the chemical giant has expanded an existing plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany, which is part of BASF’s Citral Verbund.

BASF has received approval for a 400,000 metric tons per year MDI (diphenylmethane diisocyanate) project in Chongqing, China. The investment will total RMB 8 billion (approximately €860 million). The facility, which will produce a core component mainly used for polyurethane foams, is expected to start up by 2014.

In order to meet the fast growing global market demand for its innovative chelating agent, BASF will build a new Trilon M (methylglycinediacetic acid) world scale plant at Evonik’s Theodore, Alabama site.

German chemical company BASF invests in a new production plant for emissions catalysts in Poland. Production in Nienburg, Germany, will also be expanded.

Technip, in a consortium with Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation Japan, was awarded by BASF a lump sum turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, for the expansion project of a chlorine plant (chlor-alkali). The plant is situated in Ludwigshafen, Germany, BASF’s largest production site worldwide. The work will include a membrane chlorine plant expansion as well as the integration and implementation of existing equipment and facilities.

China is looking to eliminate its dependency on imported oil and utilize its domestic coal resources. PROCESS conducted an in-depth investigation to find out who stands to gain from the coal-to-chemical projects.

Several leading chemical and energy companies including Exxon Mobil, Total and BASF announced their planned investments in the Port of Antwerp

Amacell, a specialist for flexible insulation foams, announced that it will build a new manufacturing facility in Bahrain. The new plant at the Bahrain International Investment Park (BIIP) will produce elastomeric rubber insulation for the US $ 3 billion heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) market in the GCC states.

Praxair (China) Investment Company, in a joint venture with Chongqing Chemical and Pharmaceutical Holding Group Company (CCPHC), will supply oxygen, nitrogen and clean dry air to a major integrated chemical production complex in Chongqing (Changshou) Chemical Industrial Park.

In applications such as pH determination, process analytics is securely in the driving seat. As yet unexploited potential, in contrast, is still slumbering in spectroscopy. A solution is promised by new data analysis methods as well as the integration of analysis equipment into control systems.