Germany’s BASF has reached a main construction milestone at the Zhanjiang Verbund site with the a successful mechanical implementation of the primary batch of plants in the acrylics complex, which includes the glacial acrylic acid (GAA) and butyl acrylate (BA) plants.
“With the completion of the new acrylics complex in Zhanjiang, we’re further improving our manufacturing capacities along the acrylics value chain. These new world-scale manufacturing centers will permit us to meet the quick-growing requirement for acrylics in China and across Asia with a steady supply of high quality, aggressive products and shorter lead times,” stated Bir Darbar Mehta, Senior Vice President of Petrochemicals Asia Pacific at BASF.
Han Liang, Vice President of Industrial Petrochemicals Operations for Petrochemicals Asia Pacific at BASF, brought, “We have now moved into the commissioning and start-up segment, and we’re confident in starting off operations in 2025.”
Acrylic acid is an vital pre cursor for the manufacturing of super absorbent polymers. Butyl acrylate, an ester of acrylic acid, is extensively utilize in the manufacturing of adhesives, architectural coatings, and industrial coatings. The acrylics complex at the Zhanjiang Verbund site is planned to return on stream later this year, with a manufacturing potential of approximately 400-ktpa of butyl acrylate.
The Zhanjiang Verbund site will be BASF’s largest investment to date with around €10-bn upon of completion. It can be operated beneath the sole responsibility of BASF and can be the corporation’s third-largest Verbund site worldwide, following Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.
