Jul 24 2002
It was announced today, that as part of their restructuring plan, BASF would close their plasticisers and phthalic anhydride (PA) plant at Tarragona, Spain. Production capacity would be transferred to more modern plants at Ludwigshafen, Germany and Feluy, Belgium. The Spanish plant is scheduled to cease production at the end of this year.
This announcement follows on from a similar one in June, 2001, which resulted in the closure of another plasticisers intermediates plant, also in Tarragona. Both Spanish plants commenced production in 1971 and produced 40,000 tons of plasticisers and 17,000 tons of PA annually. The decision to close these plants was a step towards restructuring BASF’s European market, which is intensely price competitive. Transfer of production capacity is expected to be more cost effective.
In all, 40 employees will be affected by the closures. Management is working closely with them to ensure the best outcome for them possible.
Plasticisers are added to plastics to aid processability and can increase the scope of applications for a given material, with most being used in soft PVC. PA is an intermediate for plasticisers.
For more information on PVC/polyvinyl chloride, click here.