BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) on 27 August announced that it has begun production at its new MDI plant in the central Chinese metropolis of Chongqing. The facility was originally planned to be brought on stream last year, but the German group delayed commissioning, reportedly in response to plans by the Chinese government to increase gas prices for chemical producers (see also Plasteurope.com of 29.05.2014).

The line – which according to Plasteurope.com’s Polyglobe capacity database (www.polyglobe.net) has nameplate capacity for 400,000 t/y – will be ramped up gradually, “in line with market demand,” BASF said. Output will go towards polyurethane applications, specifically insulation, cars and construction, with a regional focus on western China.

The facility lifts BASF’s total global MDI capacities to 1.6m t/y – of which about 500,000 t/y alone are located in China (including consolidated joint ventures). This puts the German group into the top five leading MDI producers worldwide, on a par with Huntsman and Covestro, and behind market leader Wanhua.