On 1 October 2011, the 50:50 Styrolution (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.styrolution.com) joint venture between BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) and Ineos (Lausanne / Switzerland; www.ineos.com) began operating as an independent company. The new company had received the anti-trust authorities’ go-ahead in summer this year – see Plasteurope.com of 02.06.2011. The jv is to move to its new headquarters in Frankfurt in December this year.

The new Frankfurt-based group claims to be “the only one of the key players dedicated entirely to styrenics, and a strong leader in the market”, adding that it is the leading global producer of styrene monomer (SM), polystyrene (PS), styrene-butadiene block copolymers (SBC), other styrene-based copolymers (SAN, AMSAN, ASA, MABS) and copolymer blends, and the global number two in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). According to Plasteurope.com’s Polyglobe capacity database, the group – with plants in Germany, Belgium, France, Sweden, Korea, India, Thailand, the US, Canada and Mexico – can turn out 500,000 t/y of ethylbenzene, a little more than 2.5m t/y of SM, almost 2m t/y of PS as well as 1.2m t/y of ABS. In addition, Styrolution also has capacity for 145,000 t/y of SAN.

Commenting on the launch, Martin Brudermüller, vice chairman of BASF’s board of directors, said that, “From day one Styrolution will be a global leader in its industry with an excellent competitive position. We are convinced that the decision to combine our styrenics activities in a joint venture is the right one.” The optimism was echoed by Styrolution CEO Roberto Gualdoni, who said that, “Our objective as a company is to be and remain a strong leader in our markets globally, and we are excellently positioned for profitable growth and long-term success.”