As part of its switch to high-volume commodity production, BASF AG (D-67056 Ludwigshafen; www.basf.de) has sold its flame-retardant and antistatic polystyrene specialities business (PS compounds), with a sales value of some EUR 9m, to the French subsidiary Spartech Polycom SAS of the US Spartech Corp (Clayton / Missouri; www.spartech.com) with effect from 15 April 2004. The parties agreed not to disclose the price. Spartech will transfer production to its company site in Donchery / France, which is already able to produce some 45,000 t/y of thermoplastic compounds. At the same time, BASF will cease manufacturing these products in Ludwigshafen, as previously announced in October 2003 (see PIE 23, 2003).

The flame-retardant PS brands are used primarily in electric and electronic components, while BASF reports that the antistatic grades are used preferentially for packaging. Spartech expects “good sales growth” for its new product range over the next few years and plans to expand capacity at its French location. With an overall capacity of 600,000 t/y at 47 production facilities in Northern and mainland Europe, the US group is one of the leading manufacturers of customised thermoplastics, polymer compounds and plastic mouldings.