In what constitutes the “largest single investment” in the history of its site in Lemförde / Germany, BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) in early November announced that it has earmarked “tens of millions of euros” to building a new thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) complex at the site. The group said it plans to complete the five buildings on the 4,500 m² grounds by late 2014, when production is due to begin. The expansion, which includes a new production hall for its proprietary “Elastollan”, storage areas, tanks and an office block, will create about 20 new jobs in the medium-term, BASF said.

During the ground-breaking for the new buildings, managing directors Uwe Hartwig and Rene Lochtman said, “This project will sustainably strengthen our position as market leader in the specialty plastic TPU and underlines the great importance and future direction of the Lemförde site.”

This latest investment in Lemförde follows BASF’s decision in mid-year to further develop the site’s land to build a pilot rigid foam PU application plant – see Plasteurope.com of 04.07.2012. The group said the expansion of its adjacent research building is due to be wrapped up by late autumn.