13 December 2006 – Just days after announcing a possible joint venture with Dow in a world scale TDI plant in Europe, BASF has today made public plans for further expansion in MDI at its Antwerp site. The company is raising capacity for the PU intermediate from 450,000tpa to 560,000tpa by the second quarter of next year.
Two other related plants for MDI precursors aniline and mononitrobenzene, which are already largely completed, will start up simultaneously with the expanded MDI unit, the company says.
BASF believes that growth for MDI will run at 6% a year in the next few years, spurred by the isocayanate’s use in energy saving insulation programmes as well as strong Asian consumption growth.
Innovative applications, such as sandwich plate systems and binders to reinforce dikes, will also contribute to the growth in MDI demand, according to BASF which recently started up an integrated Chinese plant with partners. Now, it is considering a further Chinese investment in MDI, it says.
