BASF plans Bahrain plastic additives plant for 2012 to meet rising Middle East demand
BASF will significantly expand its presence in the Middle East region by building a state-of-the-art plant for antioxidant blends (CSB) in Bahrain, the Germany-based chemicals major said on Wednesday.
CSBs are key additives for the production of polymers for the plastics industry, especially for the Middle East region.
Construction of the new facility will start in September 2011. It will become one of the world’s largest CSB plants ,with an annual capacity of about 16,000 tons.
The new plant will be operational already by end of 2012.
This is a major investment of BASF in the plastic additives business following its acquisition of Ciba in 2009 and manifests BASF’s strong commitment to this industry, officials said.
Hans W. Reiners, president of BASF’s performance chemicals division, said: “We are very happy to establish a state-of-the-art CSB production site close to our customers in this fast growing region.. BASF is very much committed to further strengthen its plastic additives business ranging from antioxidants and lightstabilizers to pigments.”
This new plant will come in addition to the existing manufacturing agreement for CSBs with Astra Polymer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, making BASF the largest CSB supplier in this region, it said.
The facility will serve the fast-growing polymer market in the Middle East with special focus on key customers in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), one of the fastest-growing regions for the production of polyolefin resins worldwide, the company said.
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