BASF Will Expand Butyl Acrylate Capacity

BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany) will expand butyl acrylate capacity at Ludwigshafen by 100,000 mt/yr, but the start of 2003. The company says it already has infrastructure in place that will make the expansion very cost-effective.

According to BASF, European demand for butyl acrylate is growing 4% annually and can only be met with imports. The intermediate finds application primarily in production of polymer dispersions for the paint, adhesive, paper, and construction industries.

Butyl acrylate is the highest-volume acrylic ester in the world. BASF claims the mantle of the world's largest producer of acrylic acid and acrylates.

Edited by Alan S. Brown