ERROR 1
ERROR 1
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
Password and Confirm password must match.
If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)
ERROR 2
ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.
BASF and the Chinese firm Xinjiang Markor Chemical have agreed to form joint ventures to produce butanediol and polytetrahydrofuran (polyTHF). Based in the thinly populated northwestern Xinjiang province, Markor is a furniture company that entered the chemical business. Using coal and natural gas as raw materials, Markor produces acetylene, methanol, formaldehyde, and butanediol. Markor and BASF are, respectively, China’s and the world’s largest producers of butanediol, which is used to produce spandex fibers and polyurethanes. The partners’ plans call for a 100,000-metric-ton-per-year butanediol plant and a 50,000-metric-ton polyTHF unit to open in 2015. BASF already produces the two chemicals in Shanghai. The Shanghai polyTHF plant opened in 2005 but was idled shortly thereafter when BASF found it suffered from design flaws. After repairs, BASF restarted the unit in 2007.
Join the conversation
Contact the reporter
Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication
Engage with us on Twitter