BASF Strengthens Its Specialty Polymer Activities: Styrolux SBS Plant To Be Built At Altamira, Mexico.Business Editors MOUNT OLIVE Mount Olive is the name of several places: United States of America Cities and towns
In pursuit of a strategy of expanding its specialty polymer activities into a global business, BASF BASF Bar Association of San Francisco (since 1872; San Francisco, California) BASF Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik (German chemical products company) BASF Builders Association of South Florida will build a world-scale plant to produce Styrolux(R) SBS See Small Business Server. , a styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer resin copolymer resin n. A synthetic resin produced by joint polymerization of two or more different monomers or polymers. , at Altamira in Mexico. The plant, which will have an initial capacity of 100 million pounds (45,000 metric tons), is scheduled to start producing at the start of 2003 and will supply customers mainly in the NAFTA NAFTA in full North American Free Trade Agreement Trade pact signed by Canada, the U.S., and Mexico in 1992, which took effect in 1994. Inspired by the success of the European Community in reducing trade barriers among its members, NAFTA created the world's countries and South America. The special properties of Styrolux SBS come from a combination of transparency and impact strength, making it particularly suitable for food packaging such as film wrap and drinking cups. Other applications include injection-molded articles such as coat hangers. Commenting on the project, Dr. Werner Pratorius, head of BASF's Styrenics Division, said, "This investment will give us better access to the world's biggest SBS market." Furthermore, Pratorius views specialty resins as an important complement to the company's bulk plastics activities, which are more influenced by commodity pricing. The Altamira plant, part of a wider program of investment in Styrolux SBS capacity in Antwerp, Belgium and Ludwigshafen, Germany is designed to meet the above-average growth in demand for this product. A few days ago, work on expanding a plant in Antwerp was completed, raising capacity there to 77 million pounds (35,000 metric tons) from 44 million pounds (20,000 metric tons). Early next year, Antwerp will see a new 66 million pound (30,000 metric-ton) facility come on stream, while this year in Ludwigshafen, capacity is due to be boosted from 33 million (15,000) to about 44 million pounds (20,000 metric tons). The entire investment program will cost more than $67 million (EUR EUR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Euro. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 75 million). "This considerable sum shows just how confident we are about the future growth prospects of our Styrolux SBS business," underlines Pratorius. BASF Corporation is the third largest producer of chemicals and related products in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with sales of $7.9 billion in 2000. Based in Mount Olive, New Jersey, BASF Corporation is the North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. affiliate of BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany), which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. under the trading symbol Trading symbol See: Ticker symbol "BF." "We don't make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better."(R) summarizes the diverse product mix BASF offers, such as chemicals, polymers, automotive coatings, colorants, pharmaceuticals, nylon fibers and agricultural products. BASF Corporation employs more than 16,000 people in the NAFTA region and has an Internet site at http://www.basf.com. Styrolux is a registered trademark of BASF AG. The slogan is a registered trademark of BASF Corporation. Notes to editors: If a tag line is used with this item, please refer to BASF, Mount Olive, NJ. If a reader service number is used with this item, please send inquiries concerning Styrolux SBS to Ms. Diane Actman, Mgr., Marketing Services, BASF Corporation, 3000 Continental Drive North, Mount Olive, NJ 07828-1234. |
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