MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, a global market leader in personal care ingredients including UV filters, is investing to double its global Uvinul A Plus production capacity, with the introduction of a new line at its Kaohsiung site in Taiwan, as per the company's press release.
The additional capacity is expected to come on stream by mid-2022. BASF currently produces Uvinul® A Plus at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
“We expect the demand for high-performance and safe UV filters to continue to grow worldwide, due to consumer awareness about the importance of UV protection for skin health. BASF as a global market leader in personal care ingredients is dedicated to supporting this growth,” said Ralph Schweens, President Care Chemicals, BASF.
“Our investment in the production of Uvinul® A Plus in Kaohsiung reflects the demand for advanced UV filters from our customers and underlines BASF’s commitment to the region,” said Dr. Rajan Venkatesh, Senior Vice President, Care Chemicals, BASF Asia Pacific. “This expansion coupled with our existing asset for Uvinul A Plus in Ludwigshafen will increase supply security for our customers.”
“As the company which first commercialized the UV filters product class globally, BASF has deep expertise in production as well as offering complete solutions that include sunscreen formulations, which enhance every-day skin care regimes,” said Srikanth Vaduvur, Vice President, Personal Care Solutions, Care Chemicals, BASF Asia Pacific. “Our site in Kaohsiung which maintains high competency in manufacturing standards currently produces Tinosorb S and the Uvinul A Plus investment will further augment the production of our UV filters portfolio in the region.”
Uvinul A Plus is one of the few photostable UVA filters available in the market today that reliably filters the sun’s dangerous UVA rays and provides outstanding protection from free radicals and skin damage. The oil-soluble granule offers excellent formulation flexibility, is free of preservatives and highly efficient at low concentration. Uvinul A Plus is ideal for long-lasting sun care and skin care products with anti-aging efficacy.
As MRC reported previously, BASF will increase its alkoxylate capacity in Asia Pacific, with its latest investment in Jinshan, China. The company has acquired land, buildings and assets of SPC, related to alkoxylates production, adjoining the BASF Jinshan site, in order to fulfil the growing demand from customers across Asia Pacific, especially China. With the current alkoxylate line in the Care Chemicals Jinshan plant running at full capacity, this acquisition will help double the capacity at Jinshan from end 2020.
We remind that BASF-YPC, a 50-50 joint venture of BASF and Sinopec, undertook a planned shutdown at its naphtha cracker on 30 April 2020. The company initially planned to start turnaround at the cracker on April 5, 2020. The plant remained under maintenance unitl 18 June, 2020. Located in Jiangsu, China, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 750,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 400,000 mt/year.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of EUR59 billion in 2019.
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