Within the next five years, BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany ; www.basf.com) plans to invest globally more than €200 million in its plastic additives business, approximately half of which in Asia, focusing on capacity expansions and operational excellence. Plastic additives improve product properties such as scratch resistance or light stability, and optimize plastics manufacturing processes. As the leading global supplier of plastic additives with manufacturing assets in all regions, BASF is a major partner to the plastics industry.
“BASF will strengthen its plastic additives business with investments in additional capacities to meet increasing global demand for antioxidants, as well as light stabilizers. Moreover, we will invest in digital processes and technology to support our customers as a reliable supplier in all regions,” says Christian Fischer, president, BASF Performance Chemicals division.
The planned set of measures focuses on capacity expansions at sites in North America and Europe as well as investments in automation, digital technologies and modeling. In addition, BASF plans to strengthen its plastic additives production footprint in Asia.
In addition to investments, innovation remains an integral part of BASF’s business strategy. At the K Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, BASF’s plastic additives business recently launched two new light stabilizers:
Tinuvin 880, based on a new chemistry, is a medium molecular weight light stabilizer that provides significantly improved light stability, especially in interior car applications with the additional benefit of offering higher thermal stability.
Tinuvin XT 55 provides formulators with very good durability and excellent secondary properties such as color stability, gas fading and extraction resistance. Using this new solution, an excellent cost performance will be achieved by adjusting dosage and other formulation components to end application conditions and expectations.
Both products are undergoing sampling at key customers.