In a deal the financial details of which were not disclosed, BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) in early May 2012 acquired the polyamide business of Brazil’s Mazzaferro Group (São Bernardo do Campo; www.mazzaferro.com.br). The purchase, which still has to meet the approval of the local authorities, will significantly strengthen its engineering plastics and polyamide business in Latin America, BASF said.

The deal includes Mazzaferro’s PA 6 production site and facilities as well as the engineering plastics activities at group headquarters in São Bernardo do Campo. It does not comprise Mazzaferro’s monofilaments, fishing equipment and household products businesses. The Brazilian group’s polymerisation capacity lies at about 20,000 t/y, BASF said, while the compounding plant can turn out about 8,000 t/y. Under the terms of the agreement, some 100 employees will transfer to BASF. Speaking to Plasteurope.com, a spokeswoman for the German group said BASF did not rule out further investments at the site.

BASF said it would integrate the acquired units into its existing engineering plastics and polyamide polymer business. Commenting on the purchase, which is the group’s first regional one in Latin America, Wolfgang Hapke, head of Performance Polymers, said, “This acquisition is part of BASF’s strategy to strengthen its position in the emerging countries.” He added that Brazilian demand for polyamide in the automotive and extrusion industries is expected to grow strongly in the future.