BASF Selects Contractor and Moves Forward with Construction of Super Absorbent Polymers Plant in Texas

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Researched by Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). BASF Corporation (Florham Park, New Jersey), a subsidiary of BASF AG (NYSE:BF) (Ludwigshafen, Germany), has recently started civil construction for its new state-of-the-art super absorbent polymers (SAP) unit in Freeport, Texas as previously reported by Industrialinfo.com in January 2005. CDI Engineering Group (Houston, Texas) performed the outside battery limits (OSBL) engineering on this project and the inside battery limits (ISBL) engineering was done by BASF’s Ludwigshafen office. Infinity Construction (Clute, Texas) is working with BASF on constructing this new unit that will produce an estimated 160,000 metric tons per year of SAP once operational in the second quarter of 2007.

BASF will prepare to close and decommission two of its SAP plants located in the United States by mid-2007, once the new capacity in Texas is online. BASF’s Aberdeen, Mississippi plant will close three units with a capacity of 85,000 metric tons per year and has been operational since 1987. BASF’s Portsmouth, Virginia, a much older plant location, will shutdown an estimated 75,000 metric tons per year of capacity. The process structures will be removed and the land and buildings will be available for resale. Closing these plants and bringing the new capacity online in Freeport will increase production efficiency and is expected to be more cost effective for BASF.

See related industry alert: BASF Plans for Major Super Absorbent Polymers Expansion in the South

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