BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has started marketing in Europe several PA and PPA grades it acquired as part of the takeover of Solvay’s (Brussels; www.brussels.com) PA 6.6 business, solidifying its polyamide market position further; this comes after BASF unveiled expansion plans for PA 6.6 precursor, hexamethylenediamine (HMD). The marketing move supports its customers with better engineering plastics solutions, such as for autonomous driving and e-mobility (see Plasteurope.com of 20.01.2022 and 05.02.2020).

Some of these plastics, previously sold under Solvay’s Technyl brand name, are being marketed since 1 February 2022 under the Utramid brand. This includes Technyl One J, the high-temperature polymer for fuel cell technology application and now marketed as Ultramid One J. It is used in electro-mobility and autonomous driving, and for electricity and electric components.

Ultramid One J is integrated under Ultramid Advanced, the PPA portfolio launched in 2016. The Technyl compounds that Domo Chemicals (Leuna, Germany; www.domochemicals.com) had bought as part of the Solvay takeover will continue to be marketed by the German company under the Technyl name.

The European Commission cleared the BASF-Solvay deal in 2019 under certain conditions, including a time-constrained one that stipulates that high-performance plastics would only be sold in Asia, North America, and South America. Now that the conditions have expired, BASF is bringing these grades to Europe (see Plasteurope.com of 14.08.2019).