US privately owned chemical group Huntsman (Salt Lake City, Idaho / USA; www.huntsman.com) sold its business in the polyureuthane additive TDI, effective 6 July, to rival BASF (D-67056 Ludwigshafen: www.basf.com). Financial terms were not disclosed. As BASF is not taking over the 40,800 t/y plant at Geismar, Louisiana – where the German group also operates a plant – this facility will be closed. Huntsman said it will try to place the 26 employees elsewhere.

The deal leaves Huntsman “free to focus on MDI growth opportunities,”the US group said in a statement. Its MDI facilities at Geismar are currently under expansion. TDI, for which prices – in contrast to MDI – have been sagging, accounted for only 2% of Huntsman´s PU segment revenue in 2004. Alongside Geismar, BASF produces TDI in Germany and South Korea; it will begin Chinese production in 2006.