In light of the success achieved with its exports of maleic anhydride, coke and fertilisers producer Global Ispat Koksna Industrija (Lukavac / Bosnia-Herzegovina; www.gikil.ba) is considering expanding production of this feedstock, which is used to make unsaturated polyester resins, among other things. Deputy marketing manager Senad Škripić was not prepared to say how high the investment in the current plant that has capacity of 10,000 t/y would be, or when work would be starting on the expansion.

Using new catalysts, the company succeeded in boosting maleic anhydride production to a record level in 2016, Škripić explained. Almost the entire volume is exported – foremost to Italy and Turkey, and also to other European countries, including Germany and Poland.

The company, whose product portfolio also includes 10,000 t/y of benzene, has some 1,000 employees at its sole plant in Lukavac near Tuzla.