BASF to Close Polyamide 6 Plant at Rudolstadt
LONDON (ICIS news)--BASF is to discontinue production of polyamide 6 (PA6) at its Rudolstadt site in east Germany at the end of 2010, the chemical company said on Tuesday.
It also plans to reduce PA6 capacity at its Ludwigshafen plant and will eliminate a total of 77 jobs from the two facilities, the company said in a statement.
A BASF spokeswoman said that by taking these steps the company would be reducing its PA6 capacity in Europe by 40,000 tonnes/year. It currently has a capacity of 410,000 tonnes/year in Europe.
The decision to restructure was prompted by BASF wanting to remain competitive in the polyamide market. The company was therefore focusing on its backward integrated plants, she added.
BASF’s Performance Polymers division head, Harald Lauke, said in a statement: “By focusing on the large, backward-integrated Verbund sites, we are improving our cost basis and safeguarding our competitiveness in the European polyamide 6 market.”
BASF will continue to operate a compounding plant for the production of engineering plastics in Rudolstadt.
A major PA6 buyer said the reduction in capacity would not be felt because of the number of players in the market.
“Taking 40,000 tonnes out of the market is not going to have much impact,” he added.
A European producer said that the timeframe set for the closure meant it would not shift the market dramatically.
PA6 producers have suffered from severely reduced margins this year as they failed to pass on higher feedstock costs to customers earlier in the year.
It also plans to reduce PA6 capacity at its Ludwigshafen plant and will eliminate a total of 77 jobs from the two facilities, the company said in a statement.
A BASF spokeswoman said that by taking these steps the company would be reducing its PA6 capacity in Europe by 40,000 tonnes/year. It currently has a capacity of 410,000 tonnes/year in Europe.
The decision to restructure was prompted by BASF wanting to remain competitive in the polyamide market. The company was therefore focusing on its backward integrated plants, she added.
BASF’s Performance Polymers division head, Harald Lauke, said in a statement: “By focusing on the large, backward-integrated Verbund sites, we are improving our cost basis and safeguarding our competitiveness in the European polyamide 6 market.”
BASF will continue to operate a compounding plant for the production of engineering plastics in Rudolstadt.
A major PA6 buyer said the reduction in capacity would not be felt because of the number of players in the market.
“Taking 40,000 tonnes out of the market is not going to have much impact,” he added.
A European producer said that the timeframe set for the closure meant it would not shift the market dramatically.
PA6 producers have suffered from severely reduced margins this year as they failed to pass on higher feedstock costs to customers earlier in the year.
Since the beginning of 2009 contract prices for PA6 feedstock caprolactam have risen by €507-522/tonne as a result of benzene price increases. During the same period, prices for PA6 increased by just €100-150/tonne.
quoted from: ICIS.com
