BASF joint ventures

Supply and demand statistics for 1988 for all regions of the wodd as compiled by SRI International are given in Table 5. The wodd producers of acetal resins and their aimual capacities are Hsted in Table 6 (29). Hoechst Celanese and Ultraform Corporation (a joint venture of Degussa and BASF) have aimounced capacity expansions in the United States to 77,000 t and 16,000 t, respectively both were due in place in 1990. Part of general capacity expansion plans, aimounced by Du Pont for completion in 1991, are beHeved to apply to acetal resins. 

Ma.nufa.cture. AU. manufacturers of butynediol use formaldehyde ethynylation processes. The earliest entrant was BASF, which, as successor to I. G. Farben, continued operations at Ludwigshafen, FRG, after World War II. Later BASF also set up a U.S. plant at Geismar, La. The first company to manufacture in the United States was GAF in 1956 at Calvert City, Ky., and later at Texas City, Tex., and Seadrift, Tex. The most recent U.S. manufacturer is Du Pont, which went on stream at La Porte, Tex., about 1969. Joint ventures of GAF and Hbls in Mad, Germany, and of Du Pont and Idemitsu in Chiba, Japan, are the newest producers. 

Because of projected nylon-6,6 growth of 4—10% (167) per year in the Far East, several companies have announced plans for that area. A Rhc ne-Poulenc/Oriental Chemical Industry joint venture (Kofran) announced a 1991 startup for a 50,000-t/yr plant in Onsan, South Korea (168,169). Asahi announced plans for a 15,000-t/yr expansion of adipic acid capacity at their Nobeoka complex in late 1989, accompanied by a 60,000-t/yr cyclohexanol plant at Mizushima based on their new cyclohexene hydration technology (170). In early 1990 the Du Pont Company announced plans for a major nylon-6,6 complex for Singapore, including a 90,000-t/yr adipic acid plant due to start up in 1993 (167). Plans or negotiations for other adipic acid capacity in the area include Formosa Plastics (Taiwan) (171) and BASF-Hyundai Petrochemical (South Korea) (167). Adipic acid is a truly worldwide... 

Until 1982, almost all methyl methacrylate produced woddwide was derived from the acetone cyanohydrin (C-3) process. In 1982, Nippon Shokubai Kagaku Kogyo Company introduced an isobutylene-based (C-4) process, which was quickly followed by Mitsubishi Rayon Company in 1983 (66). Japan Methacryhc Monomer Company, a joint venture of Nippon Shokubai and Sumitomo Chemical Company, introduced a C-4-based plant in 1984 (67). Isobutylene processes are less economically attractive in the United States where isobutylene finds use in the synthesis of methyl /i / butyl ether, a pollution-reducing gasoline additive. BASF began operation of an ethylene-based (C-2) plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany, in 1990, but favorable economics appear to be limited to conditions unique to that site. 

The application of metallocene catalysis to the preparation of polypropylenes reached a commercial stage with the production by Exxon of their Achieve range in 1996 and in 1997 by Targor, the BASF-Hoechst joint venture with the introduction of Metocene. Such metallocene polypropylenes are, however, only a small proportion of the total polypropylene market, predicted at only about 3% of the total in 2005. 

The first commercially available acetal resin was marketed by Du Pont in 1959 under the trade name Delrin after the equivalent of ten million pounds had been spent in research or polymers of formaldehyde. The Du Pont monopoly was unusually short lived as Celcon, as acetal copolymer produced by the Celanese Corporation, became available in small quantities in 1960. This material became commercially available in 1962 and later in the same year Farbwerke Hoechst combined with Celanese to produce similar products in Germany (Hostaform). In 1963 Celanese also combined with the Dainippon Celluloid Company of Osaka, Japan and Imperial Chemical Industries to produce acetal copolymers in Japan and Britain respectively under the trade names Duracon and Alkon (later changed to Kematal). In the early 1970s Ultraform GmbH (a joint venture of BASF and Degussa) introduced a copolymer under the name Ultraform and the Japanese company Asahi Chemical a homopolymer under the name Tenal. 

The Chinese chemical market is attracting huge foreign direct investments. Between 1993 and 2003, investment projects amounted to around EUR 20 billion of contractual FDI, with Bayer, BASF, Shell, and BP the four biggest investors. Over the last ten years, five percent of foreign direct investment was into the chemicals sector. Multinational corporations (MNCs) tend to enter via joint ventures partially driven by the need for feedstock access, but wholly foreign-owned enterprises will become more common following China s membership of the WTO. 

Licensor Basell Technology Co. BV. Basell is a joint venture between Royal Dutch/Shell Group and BASF. 

Ref. 29. Courtesy of SRI International as of October 1, 1989. k Joint venture, BASF and Degussa Joint venture, Hoeclist Celanese and Hoeclist AG. 

Less is known of the processes developed by other companies. BASF/Dow Chemical, in a joint venture, started the construction of a 300000ta plant at the BASF site in Antwerp (Belgium) at the end of 2006 [151]. Hydrogen peroxide will... 

Joint ventures and collaborations for the implementation of newly developed HPPO processes have been established between BASF, Dow and Solvay, and between Degussa-Evonik, Headwaters and Krupp-Uhde [11]. 

The H P plant, built jointly by Dow, BASF and Solvay, has a capacity of230 000 tons yr , based on the RAQ/RAHQ route for HP production. The 300000 metric-tons per year H PPO single-train plant, built jointly by BASF and Dow, started up in 2008. In 2007, Dow and Solvay also announced an agreement to create a joint venture for theconstructionofaHP plant in Map Ta Phut, Thailand. The plant will be the largest... 

Bayer consolidated its American holdings at about the same time as BASF. But, given its history, it focused on a somewhat different set of product lines, especially pharmaceuticals. In 1977, partly from antitrust pressure, Bayer acquired Monsanto s 50 percent in Mobay, the joint venture that had expanded its line to polyurethane and agricultural chemicals. Bayer s primary drive, however, continued to be in pharmaceuticals. In the same year, it also purchased Cutter Laboratories, makers of nutrients and ethical drugs. Soon thereafter. Cutter recorded its first profit. Bayer s success in turning around... 

Malaysia [33-36]. Because of the country s economic problems, the future of the Malaysian chemical industry is uncertain. Investment may be curtailed because of pessimism over the economy. The Malaysian Industrial Development Association (MIDA) has stated that petrochemicals is one of the country s key industries. Joint ventures between Petronas (the state oil and gas company) and Union Carbide, BP Chemicals, and BASF are projected for the early 2000s and beyond. The chemicals of interest are ethylene, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, acetic acid, alcohols, and plasticizers. Large multinationals like ExxonMobil, and Shell have preferred Singapore to Malaysia. MIDA has long-term plans (10-15 years) to develop the upstream sector first, and the downstream sectors and specialty chemicals later. Even though economic problems are present, 27 new CPI projects were on hold or under way in early 1999[13]. 

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