BASF is increasing its compounding capacities for the engineering plastics Ultramid (polyamide) and Ultradur PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) at its Schwarzheide site by 10,000 tpa. This step is being taken because of an expect increase in European demand. “Engineering plastics in Europe came out of the economic crisis more quickly than we and our customers had expected back in early 2010. In comparison to the crisis year of 2009, demand rose by more than 30% in 2010. For 2011 as well, we are counting on double-digit growth. Consequently, the consumption will already have returned to the pre-crisis level in 2011,” said Dr Willy Hoven-Nievelstein, BASF’s head engineering plastics for Europe.
“We are anticipating an average annual growth of more than five percent, which is why we are going to considerably expand our compounding capacities for engineering plastics in Europe in the coming years. This is how we can keep pace with the growth of our customers, as we have done in the past,” he added.
