BASF Expected to Increase Spending in United States in 2010

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Project spending for BASF Corporation (Florham Park, New Jersey), a subsidiary of BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany), is expected to increase this year based on project activity identified so far by Industrial Info as part of its North American Project Database. More than $200 million of projects with construction kick-offs scheduled for 2010 in the United States have been identified, with the largest project planned in the Geismar, Louisiana, plant complex. This project is the addition of a new formic acid unit, with a total investment value of nearly $100 million possibly beginning construction this summer.

Another site where significant investments are planned this year is BASF's catalyst plant in Attapulgus, Georgia. Catalyst products, a niche market in the Chemical Processing Industry (CPI), are expected to enjoy an increase in demand, possibly faster than other CPI segments, as the general economy recovers. Investments at this site appear to be aimed at both increasing production capacity and achieving significant energy efficiencies and reductions.

BASF operates more than 60 manufacturing plants across North America, and among the biggest are those in Texas and Louisiana. In Texas, a couple of major plant maintenance turnarounds are planned in BASF's Freeport, Texas, complex, specifically in the caprolactam and cyclohexanone units. These turnarounds together will equal more than $10 million in maintenance spending and total an estimated five weeks of scheduled downtime.

Most CPI plant owners will be cautious with how aggressively they begin to increase investments this year. The $200 million identified for BASF is small in comparison to many past years, although it remains an increase over 2009 and a step toward showing optimism about the short-term outlook on the CPI.

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