BASF / SINOPEC
New isononanol plant in China / German partner shifts plans for plasticiser feedstocks after quitting Petronas project
After stepping back from its Heads of Agreement with Petronas (Kuala Lumpur / Malaysia; www.petronas.com) to invest in a new chemical joint venture in Malaysia – see Plasteurope.com of 23.01.2012 – BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) apparently is shifting some of its envisaged projects to other Asian sites. It has now unveiled plans to form a 50:50 joint venture with Chinese petrochemical giant Sinopec (Beijing; www.sinopec.com). The new company, which will trade as BASF MPCC Co Ltd, intends to build a world-scale plant for the plasticiser precursor isononanol (INA) at Maoming / China, set for start-up in mid-2015.
BASF said the full integration of the new INA plant into an existing petrochemical site at Maoming will allow for a comprehensive system for managing energy as well as minimising water use, emissions and waste. It also “allows for a very competitive feedstock supply,” said Albert Heuser, president Asia Pacific at BASF. The required environmental impact assessment is in progress.
Isononanol is a feedstock for the PVC plasticiser disononyl phthalate (DINP) and the non-phthalate plasticiser DINCH, which BASF markets as “Hexamoll”. Germany’s Evonik (Essen; www.evonik.com), also a major producer of plasticisers, is now planning to invest in an isononanol plant in partnership with Petronas.
BASF said the full integration of the new INA plant into an existing petrochemical site at Maoming will allow for a comprehensive system for managing energy as well as minimising water use, emissions and waste. It also “allows for a very competitive feedstock supply,” said Albert Heuser, president Asia Pacific at BASF. The required environmental impact assessment is in progress.
Isononanol is a feedstock for the PVC plasticiser disononyl phthalate (DINP) and the non-phthalate plasticiser DINCH, which BASF markets as “Hexamoll”. Germany’s Evonik (Essen; www.evonik.com), also a major producer of plasticisers, is now planning to invest in an isononanol plant in partnership with Petronas.
25.01.2013 Plasteurope.com [224404-0]
Published on 25.01.2013