In line with plans announced in 2012 (see Plasteurope.com of 05.07.2012), BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) in September 2014 announced the start-up of a new 155,000 t/y butadiene plant at its site in Antwerp / Belgium. The material will be extracted from crude C4 turned out at the site’s steam cracker, securing the group’s “internal supply with butadiene at competitive costs,” Uwe Kirchgäßner, head of BASF’s regional business unit Basic Petrochemicals Europe, said.

BASF already operated a 105,000 t/y butadiene plant at group headquarters in Ludwigshafen. The new facility thus more than doubles the German company’s butadiene production capacity in Europe.