As part of a plan to concentrate styrenics production at high efficiency world plants, the BASF group (D-67056 Ludwigshafen; www.basf.com) will mothball its “Styrolux” styrene-butadiene-copolymers (SBS) plant at Ludwigshafen before the end of 2003 and quit the PS compounding market by 1 July 2004, thus removing 100,000 t/y of volume from the compounds market. In future, compounds from BASF´s polystyrene will be available only through licensed suppliers and production of PS containing special additives will be sold. BASF is also quitting customised niche products such ready-coloured resins and will offer customers technical assistance in switching to alternative products.

The closure of the Styrolux plant, which also had been shipping to the NAFTA market, will reduce BASF´s European capacity by 25%. NAFTA will be supplied in future from Altamira, Mexico, where a new world-scale plant is to start up at the end of this year. According to European styrenics head, Wilfried Haensel, this is BASF´s reaction to market oversupply and unsatisfactory margins. Action by Bayer (D-51368 Leverkusen; www.bayer.com) on styrenics could also be forthcoming. According to press reports the group has neither confirmed or denied, it is planning a spin-off or sale of its ABS activities.