The BASF group has signed a letter of intent to acquire the 60,000 t/y "Ronafalin" and "Stapron" ABS business of DSM Performance Polymers (NL-6310 AA Sittard) including production facilities at Geleen in The Netherlands. The activities have annual sales of DEM 200m. DSM plans to continue to carry out toll compounding for BASF. The move would make the Ludwigshafen group Europe's second largest producer of styrenic copolymers with 260,000 t of annual capacity, behind Bayer with currently 305,000 t, and ahead of GE Plastics with 200,000 t.

BASF already has 400,000 t/y of ABS, SAN and ASA capacity at Ludwigshafen and Tarragona in Europe, as well as in Korea and Australia. Following the start-up of a 130,000 t/y production unit at Altamira, Mexico, later this year, the group says it will be the only ABS manufacturer capable of supplying identical products in all regions of the triad. GE Plastics is currently world's largest producer of styrenic copolymers, followed by Taiwan's Chi Mei and Bayer.

At "K ‘98" in Düsseldorf, the BASF stand featured new products and new developments in styrenic copolymers, among other things. One of the highlights was the new polystyrene grade "495F", being recommended as a substitute for ABS in a number of applications.