BASF Corp. (Florham Park, N.J.; www.basf.us) today announced plans to build a state-of-the-art production plant for formic acid at its integrated facility in Geismar, La.
Slated to start up in the second quarter of 2014, the new plant will have an annual capacity of more than 50,000 tons. It will be the only formic acid plant in North America, and BASF says the new facility will allow the company to better serve strategic markets in North and South America, including applications for pharmaceuticals, energy, animal nutrition, leather and cleaning products.
The potassium salt of formic acid is an environmentally friendly de-icing agent for roadways and airports, and both formic acid and potassium formate are used in the oilfield industry as part of the drilling and completion process, as well as in shale gas exploration.
BASF’s other formic acid plants are in integrated sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany and Nanjing, China. Total capacity is 255,000 metric tons annually.
The announcement of the Louisiana plant was made at a press conference today at BASF’s newly revealed regional headquarters building in Florham Park, N.J. BASF Corp. CEO and Chairman Hans Engel told press conference attendees that the company’s North American sales were off to a “solid” start in 2012, and the company is trying to grow sales in North America by about 5% annually through 2020.