Flexible alkylethanolamine production in Ludwigshafen multi-product facility expanded

Coatings, lubricants, pharmaceutical and agrochemical products are major applications

BASF will double its manufacturing capacity for certain alkylethonalamines (AEOA) by mid-2009. This expansion is the company’s response to increases in its customers’ demand for these products. BASF manufactures its range of AEOA specialties at the integrated Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, by means of a flexible, fully backward-integrated multi-product facility. AEOA, such as ethylethanolamines, propylethanolamines and butylethanolamines, are used successfully in a wide array of applications, for example in coatings and lubricants, in pharmaceutical and agrochemical products. AEOA belong to the alkylalkanolamine category that BASF now makes at its sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Geismar, USA, with a total annual capacity of 70,000 metric tons.

“As one of the globally leading amine manufacturers, we are expanding our production capacity in response to our customers’ growing demand for specific AEOAs,” said Dr. Stefan Blank, head of the regional Amines business unit within BASF’s Intermediates division. He added: “We are pleased to see that this increase in demand is driven mainly by innovations that we have developed in cooperation with our customers.” Examples of this are the development of a new AEOA for high-grade emulsion paints and new options to use products from the existing AEOA portfolio, for instance in certain industrial applications.

The world’s most multifaceted amine selection

BASF has the world’s most diverse portfolio of amines available to customers. In addition to alkyl-, alkanol-, alkoxyalkyl-, di- and polyamines, the company also produces aromatic as well as heterocyclic amines. In addition it is marketing a constantly expanding portfolio of chiral amines of high optical and chemical purity. BASF produces amines in Ludwigshafen and Schwarzheide (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), in Geismar, in Camaçari (Brazil), and in Nanjing, the Verbund site in China.

Amines are being utilized with great success in manufacturing pharmaceuticals and cosmetics as well as cleaning and crop protection agents. They are also used in producing various plastics and coating resins. Amines are part of process chemical formulations applied, for instance, in water treatment as well as paper, textile and leather manufacturing.

BASF

The BASF Group’s operating division Intermediates develops, produces and markets the world’s largest range of intermediates containing more than 600 products. The most important of the division's product groups include amines, diols, polyalcohols, acids and specialties. Among other applications, intermediates are used as starting materials for coatings, plastics, pharmaceuticals, textile fibers, detergents and crop protectants. Innovative intermediates from BASF help to improve the properties of final products and the efficiency of production processes. The ISO 9001:2000-certified operating division Intermediates operates plants at production sites in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In 2006, the division generated world sales of about €2.3 billion with 2,600 employees. For more information, go to http://www.basf.de/intermediates.