BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has announced that it has opened a new plant in Yeosu, Korea to strengthen the supply of Ultrason polyarylsulfone, one of the company’s high-performance thermoplastics. The new plant has a production capacity of 6,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr).
The new plant is the first of its kind to be built outside of Germany and brings the company’s global capacity of Ultrason polyarylsulfone to 18,000 m.t./yr. With this investment, BASF also creates 50 new jobs at its Yeosu site.
Ultrason is widely applied in the electronics, automotive and aerospace industries for the production of heat-resistant, lightweight components. Other popular Ultrason applications include membranes for water treatment, fittings for drinking water pipelines or food contact parts as in espresso machines, or microwave-proof dishes. Ultrason is also used in the production of carbon fiber composite materials.