BASF, a major chemical company, announced that it is expanding its compounding capacities of engineering plastics, Ultradur and Ultramid, by 10,000 metric tons annually at its Schwarzheide site in Germany.
The Ultramid is a polyamide material, while the Ultradur is a polybutylene terephthalate material. The new move is part of BASF’s capacity expansion strategy planned to meet the growing demand in Europe. During the Q1 of 2011, the company declared that it would double the compounding capacities of its engineering plastics in Korea and China.
According to Dr. Willy Hoven-Nievelstein, who serves as the head of BASF’s Engineering Plastics Europe, the European market for engineering plastics recovered swiftly from the economic downturn and the demand for engineering plastics increased over 30% in 2010. The company is expecting a similar double-digit growth in 2011 as the consumption has reached to the pre-crisis level, he added.
Hoven-Nievelstein further said that the company is expecting over 5% of average growth per year, which is the reason behind the capacity expansion of engineering plastics in the European region in the upcoming years.
The Ultradur and Ultramid are fabricated into high-performance parts in the electric & electronics, automotive, furniture-making and construction industries such as chairs, window profiles, connectors and sensors, oil pans and car seat structures.
Source: http://www.basf.com