Dec 27 2007
The neopentyl glycol (NPG) plant of BASF at Ludwigshafen has turned 10 this year. BASF had started up a world-scale plant in 1997, replacing a much smaller facility. In 2007, the capacity of this plant was raised by 10,000 metric tons per annum. This expansion is due to the fact that the demand for NPG keeps rising around the globe, mainly in coating applications.
BASF is now the only company that has NPG production facilities in Europe, NAFTA and Asia with a total annual capacity of 165,000 metric tons worldwide. The company is a leading NPG manufacturer and offers highly dependable supplies for its customers in the long term thanks to its backward integration.
“We support our customers’ growth regionally in their markets by producing NPG around the world,” said Hartwig Michels, head of the regional Diols and Polyalcohols business unit of BASF’s Intermediates division. He added: “The coatings industry is one of our major outlets for NPG. It is characterized by dynamic innovation, therefore we see many starting points for promising developments on the basis of NPG.” NPG is used in coatings as a tried and tested essential component for eco-efficient powder coating resins. It is also used for unsaturated polyester and alkyd resins, which serve as binders in a variety of liquid coatings.