BASF to build new dispersions plant in South Africa

(BASF) -- BASF will invest in a dispersions plant in Durban, South Africa. The new plant will produce acrylic dispersions mainly for the coatings and construction industry. The facility will benefit from local availability of raw materials and proximity to key customers who serve South Africa's and Sub Saharan Africa's fast-growing markets. Production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2012.

South Africa is the largest market for dispersions in Sub-Saharan Africa. With its portfolio of specialties, BASF can help customers move towards more environmentally friendly technologies such as reduced Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and products free of alkyl phenol ethoxylate (APEO). This investment reflects BASF's focus on participating in the strong growth markets in emerging Africa.

MRC

(BASF) -- With immediate effect or as contracts allow, BASF is increasing the sales prices for carbonyl chloride derivatives (CCDs) in Europe by 10 to 20% depending on the specific product. The price increase is necessary due to the increased production costs.

The CCD portfolio of BASF comprises mainly acid chlorides and chloroformates, which are primarily used to make organic peroxides for the production of polymers. They are also important as intermediates for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Further applications are cosmetics, soaps and detergents, mining chemicals, polymer additives and electroplating chemicals.

MRC

(ICIS) -- China's polyethylene (PE) import demand may weaken further in the coming months because of high import prices that will deter buyers, industry sources said on Tuesday.

The benchmark linear low density PE (LLDPE) was on average selling at yuan (CNY) 10,800/tonne (USD 1.659/tonne) EXWH (ex-warehouse) on 13 May, CNY350/tonne or 3.1% lower from mid-April, according to data from Chemease, an ICIS service in China.

The import cost of LLDPE was at least $35/tonne (┬25/tonne) higher than current retail prices, local traders said.

The average retail price of injection grade polypropylene (PP) rose to CNY12,675/tonne EXWH on 13 May, up by CNY225/tonne or 1.8% from mid-April, but still lagged behind import costs, local traders said.

The benchmark injection grade PP is being offered from Asia at around USD 1.680/tonne CFR (cost & freight) China for June shipment, around USD133/tonne higher than current retail prices.

China imported less PE and PP in March this year as a result of the high import costs, local traders said. China imported around 230 KT of LLDPE and about 330 KT of homopolymer PP in March, which were 14% and 9% lower compared with the same month last year, according to China's customs data.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Sasol-Huntsman has lifted the force majeure declaration at its maleic anhydride (MA) plant in Moers, Germany, a company source said on Friday. The force majeure was enacted on 4 March 2011 because of technical problems associated with the start-up of the facility's new 45 KTa reactor. It was lifted on 30 April and the extra capacity is now online, giving a new nameplate capacity of 105 KTa.

The European MA market has been in tight supply since the fourth quarter of 2009, because of the closure of BASF's 115 KTa MA plant in Feluy, Belgium.

Despite the lifting of Sasol-Huntsman's force majeure, MA availability remains low because of limited stock levels and high demand, sources said.

Spot prices are at record levels of EUR 1.800-2.000/tonne (USD 2.571-2.857/tonne) for liquid and flake. Liquid spot prices have been at historic highs for 10 weeks, and solid spot prices for six weeks. At the time, the spot price increases were attributed to the Sasol-Huntsman force majeure.

MRC

(BASF) -- X-SEED crystals from BASF make concrete harden faster and reduce carbon emissions. This hardening accelerator not only allows precast concrete units to be produced more rapidly and in better quality, it also considerably reduces energy consumption and the associated emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2).

"X-Seed makes heat curing with all its disadvantages largely superfluous," explains Dr. Michael Kompatscher, responsible for BASF's European precast concrete component market. "With this additive, concrete hardens just as fast at 20 degrees Celsius as it otherwise does at 60 degrees Celsius. And by a brilliantly simple method - because all it involves is adding something that's already present in the concrete anyway: calcium silicate hydrate." More precisely, it's the countless millions of tiny CSH crystals with a diameter of several nanometers suspended in liquid in X-Seed. Because of their nanosize, more very homogeneously distributed crystallization seeds can be accommodated in the same mass and thereby promote faster growth. When the concrete hardens, further molecules from the cement can attach themselves to these CSH seeds. The resulting crystals grow more densely and finally interlock to form the compact cement stone.

Besides the large market for precast concrete components, in which manufacturers can now produce more efficiently and rapidly and handle peak workloads more flexibly, this innovative accelerator also offers advantages for a number of other applications. The product shortens the construction times of roads, tunnels and airstrips - also in winter outdoor temperatures. The nanoproduct X-Seed not only saves costs, it also has an extremely positive influence on the energy and climate balance and hence the sustainability of the material concrete (see Infobox).

MRC