Expansions: BASF doubles antioxidants capacity in Singapore; DIC constructing coating resins facility in India

German chemical firm BASF has expanded the production capacity for its antioxidant Irganox 1010 at its site on Jurong Island, Singapore, by integrating an additional production line into the existing production facilities.

“By expanding our production capacity, we respond to the increasing demand, and it allows us to support our customers’ growth plans. With the investment in Singapore, we underline our position as one of the leading suppliers of phenolic antioxidants,” said Hermann Althoff, Senior Vice President, BASF Performance Chemicals Asia Pacific.

With this capacity expansion, BASF provides its customers more flexibility and ensures reliability of supply. The volumes from the additional capacity in Singapore will mainly serve the fast-growing Asia Pacific and Middle East markets.

Irganox 1010 is a sterically hindered phenolic primary antioxidant. It provides protection against thermo-oxidative degradation, mainly applied in polyolefins and also recommended for polyacetals, polyamides and polyurethanes, polyesters, PVC, ABS and elastomers such as butyl rubber and synthetic rubbers.

BASF runs a global production network and is the only supplier of plastic additives with production sites in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.

In other news, Japanese chemical firm DIC Corporation says that its wholly owned subsidiary Ideal Chemi Plast Private Limited, based in the state of Maharashtra, India, has commenced construction of a new coating resins production facility in the state’s Supa industrial area. The new greenfield project will increase Ideal Chemi Plast’s production capacity for these resins, enabling it to keep pace with rising demand in India.

The coating resins (acrylic resins, polyester resins, alkyd resins and others) are targeted at industrial applications such as automotive refinish coatings and coil coatings.

DIC has formulated a strategy for expanding the DIC Group’s presence in coating resins markets across Asia. The Indian market, a key target of this strategy, is projected to see annual growth in excess of 9%. With the aim of capturing local demand, in April 2019 DIC acquired Ideal Chemi Plast, having determined that fusing its ability to develop high-end coating resins with the Indian company’s extensive sales channels, customer base, grasp of user needs, and supply chain would swiftly elevate its market position in India. With its existing coating resins production facility operating at full capacity ever since the acquisition, underpinned healthy demand, Ideal Chemi Plast recognised the need to swiftly augment capacity and purchased a site for a new facility in March 2021. Construction began in April this year.

The new facility, which is expected to begin operating in July 2023, will triple Ideal Chemi Plast’s production capacity. Reactors will also allow local production of new environment-friendly products and products for the global market developed at DIC’s Polymer Technical Centre Asia Pacific in Thailand.

The facility will install a Zero Liquid Discharge system, enabling it to treat all wastewater internally to produce clean water suitable for industrial use and it will also focuses on carbon footprint reduction by selecting natural gas as fuel, energy efficient machineries with good engineering practice and better safety standards, adds DIC.

DIC says it will continue working to strengthen its presence in the Indian coating resins market by further boosting both its production capacity and the range of products it offers, thereby improving value provided to local customers and locking in persistently robust demand.

In line with the regional strategy set forth in its DIC Vision 2030 long-term management plan, which calls for building in growth by expanding its production bases in South Asia, the group will also step up marketing efforts by subsidiary DIC South Asia, which oversees sales of DIC products in the western part of the region, and work to bolster South Asia’s role as a base for exporting coating resins to the Middle East and Africa.

Subscribe to Get the Latest Updates from IMA  Please click here