The facility will be built at Kuantan, Malaysia

The facility will be built at Kuantan, Malaysia

BASF announced plans today for a joint venture to build a new plant for engineering thermoplastic PBT at its Kuantan site in Malaysia. BASF chairman Juergen Hambrecht said the new polybutylene terephtalate plant will be a world-scale facility. He said details of the partner will be disclosed in the next two months. He added it will be different from the company’s European partnership with GE Plastics.

The plant will draw feedstock from BASF’s new butanediol (BDO) plant, now in the final production test phase. It will take PTA from a local supplier. BASF is aiming to win one fifth of its overall turnover from the Asia Pacific chemical market currently valued at E370bn. Although there are currently small PBT plants in the region BASF and its partner plan a large, cost efficient investment, Hambrecht said.