Following its failure to acquire the Monsanto ABS business last year, BASF AG (D-67056 Ludwigshafen) has now announced major investment plans to secure its role as a global player in the styrene copolymers business. Talking at a recent press conference in London, Dr Werner Prätorius, Head of the Engineering Plastics Division, announced investment plans of DM 1bn for the next 10 years to expand existing plants and construct new world-scale facilities in Asia and the NAFTA region.

Plans are already in hand at the company's Ludwigshafen plant to increase polymerisation capacity by 25% to 190,000 t/y by the end of this year, with a further expansion to 250,000 t being considered. In Asia, where BASF already operates a 40,000 t ABS plant in Korea, it is looking to build a 120,000 t/y unit in 1997. A 130,000 t/y ABS/SAN/ASA plant is also planned for the NAFTA region in 1998. However, details of precise locations were not given for either of these plants. If these investments go ahead then BASF will double its 1996 global capacity of 250,000 t/y for ABS/SAN/ASA over the next two years.

Prof Dr. Franz Brandstetter, Head of the Styrene Copolymer business unit, conceded that at present BASF is one of the smaller players in this market. In 1995 55% of sales were in Western Europe, with 22% in Asia and 5% in the NAFTA region. However, the company believes that with investments to improve its manufacturing process, its backward integration into feedstocks and the development of value added specialities will enable it to achieve a competitive cost position and become a global cost leader. They expect particularly strong growth for its "Luran" S (ASA) line of weatherable polymers and its "Terlux" (MABS) products which combine the properties of ABS with high transparency.

The worldwide market for ABS/SAN copolymers is put at 3.7m t for 1995. BASF predicts growth in Europe and NAFTA of 2-3%/y, but 6-8%/y in Asia and other emerging regional markets. Specialities are expected to grow on average by 5 %/y.

BASF's plans for its styrene copolymers business form part of a wider strategy for its engineering plastics division which will see investments of DM 2.5bn over the next five years. This will include the new PBT jv plant with GE Plastics (NL-4600 AC Bergen op Zoom) at Schwarzheide, Germany, as well as new polystyrene capacity in Mexico, South Korea and China. The company is also seeking to strengthen its position in South-America and Eastern Europe.

READER SERVICE: Press conference speeches of Prätorius and Brandstetter (with further details; English): PIE-No. 39041.