August 8, 2007

 

BASF to increase propionic acid capacity in Germany and China
 

Press release
 

 

BASF will increase its annual production capacity for the chemical intermediate propionic acid at its sites in Ludwigshafen (Rhineland-Palatinate state, Germany) and Nanjing (Jiangsu province, China) by 30,000 tonnes and 9,000 tonnes respectively.

 

BASF YPC Co. Ltd., a joint venture owned by BASF and the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.), is tasked with production in Nanjing.

 

Once expansion of both production facilities is completed in Nanjing and by mid-2009 in Ludwigshafen, BASF will have the capacity to make 149,000 tonnes of propionic acid each year.

 

"Propionic acid is a strategic product for us and BASF is a leading supplier. With this investment, we intend to keep responding to our customers' growing demand in a sustainable manner," said Dr Walter Gramlich, president of BASF's Intermediates Division.

 

The major application of propionic acid is feed grain preservation. The organic acid is also widely used in the production of vitamin E as well as pharmaceutical active ingredients, crop protection agents, solvents, food preservatives and plastics.

 

An eco-efficiency analysis performed by BASF has shown that feed grain preservation using propionic acid offers economic and ecological benefits over other methods, such as drying or storage in airtight silos.

 

BASF markets propionic acid-based preservatives under the trade names Lupro-Grain and Luprosil.

 

For more information, contact:

 

Wylie Rogers (Hong Kong)

Tel: +852-2731-0197

Fax: +852-2734-9645

Mobile: +852-9020-4806

Email:     wylie.rogers@basf.com

Website:  www.asiapacific.basf.com