GERMANY – BASF, a German chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world, plans to increase the global production capacity for its antioxidant Irganox 1010 by 40% with production expansion projects at its sites in Jurong, Singapore, and Kaisten, Switzerland.

Irganox 1010 is a sterically hindered phenolic primary antioxidant.

It provides protection against thermo-oxidative degradation, mainly applied in polyolefins and also recommended for polyacetals, polyamides and polyurethanes, polyesters, PVC, ABS and elastomers such as butyl rubber and synthetic rubbers.

According to BASF, it aims to better serve the increasing demand from customers in Asia and Europe, Middle East and Africa from its regional supply points.

In addition, BASF is investing in its McIntosh, Alabama facility in the US to improve asset reliability and further expand capacity to meet growing customer demand.

“By expanding our production capacities, we respond to the increase in demand.  With the investment in Singapore, we underline our position as one of the leading suppliers of phenolic antioxidants,” said Hermann Althoff, Senior Vice President, BASF Performance Chemicals Asia Pacific.

In Singapore, the company will double its capacity for Irganox 1010 by adding an additional production line that will be integrated into the existing production facilities.

“At the same time, we will add 30% to our existing capacity for Irganox 1010 at our Kaisten plant in Switzerland by debottlenecking operations.

This significant and timely expansion, planned for 2019, reinforces our commitment to accelerating business growth in the region,” added Alberto Giovanzana, Vice President, Plastic Additives EMEA, BASF.

“Increasing our manufacturing capacity shows our commitment to plastic additives, which greatly benefits our global customer base,” said Deon Carter, Senior Vice President, BASF Performance Chemicals North America.

“By investing in our McIntosh, Alabama site, we’ll further improve our supply reliability and expand our capacity of Irganox 1010 and associated antioxidants to meet growing demand in the region.”