BASF expands pigment capacities in China, Germany

German specialty chemicals company BASF is strengthening its global production network for pigments with two new investments. At the site in Nanjing, China, the company has increased its production capacities for high-performance diketopyrrolopyrrole pigments (DPP). In Ludwigshafen, BASF is going to expand its capacities for the production of versatile alpha blue pigments, which are particularly characterised by their excellent fastness properties, by the fall of 2016.

The colour-intensive and extremely lightfast and weatherproof DPP pigments, which are marketed by BASF under the product name Irgazin are – among other applications – used for automotive, industrial and powder coatings, paints and inks as well as for plastic applications. Jeff Knight, Senior Vice President of the business unit Dispersions & Pigments Asia-Pacific explains that DPP pigments are a high-quality alternative to lead-chromate-based pigments that are increasingly being regulated all over the world.

In its plant in Nanjing, which commenced operation in 2013, BASF has, in the meantime, started producing various DPP pigments, above all for the Asian market. With its comprehensive production network for DPP pigments, which includes sites in all regions, the company is in a position to rapidly and reliably supply high-quality pigments all over the world that comply with standardised specifications.

Meanwhile, on its Ludwigshafen site, BASF is going to expand the capacities for the production of alpha blue pigments which will be available from fall 2016 onwards. The reddish copper phthalocyanine pigments which – in addition to other blue and green pigments that are based on the same chemistry – are sold by BASF under the Heliogenbrand, are characterised by their excellent fastness properties. In addition, alpha blue pigments stand out due to their versatile applicability that includes plastic colouring, printing applications as well as industrial and automotive coatings and paints.

Dr Alexander Haunschild, Senior Vice President of the business unit Pigments & Resins Europe says that with the latest trends in color, they are expecting that customer demand for alpha blue pigments is going to continue to increase significantly.