BASF Invests In European Plants

BASF is undertaking a “three-digit million euro” investment to increase capacity for vinylformamide (VFA) and its derivatives. VFA is polymerized into water-soluble cationic polymers used to improve the efficiency of the papermaking process. BASF will increase VFA monomer and polymer capacity in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and build a VFA polymerization line in Zhenjiang, China. Separately, BASF plans to build a unit at its Antwerp, Belgium, ethylene cracker to extract up to 155,000 metric tons per year of butadiene from a stream of mixed C4s. BASF says the move is a reaction to a tight global buta­diene market.