MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF now offers high performance Ultramid (polyamide), which is derived from renewable raw materials. BASF uses an innovative approach that replaces up to 100% of the fossil resources used at the beginning of the integrated production process with certified biomass, as per the company's press release.
The resulting Ultramid, which is produced according to the so called mass balance approach, is identical in terms of formulation and quality but associated with lower green house gas emissions and saving of fossil resources . Also , existing plants and technologies along the value chain can continue to be used without changes.
"Consumer demand for products made of renewable raw materials continues to rise," says Joachim Queisser, Senior Vice President of the Polyamides and Precursors Europe regional business unit. "This offering opens excellent possibilities for packaging film manufacturers to market their products accordingly."
With more than 60 years of experience, BASF is the leading supplier of high quality polyamide and polyamide intermediates for the engineering plastics, film, fiber and monofilament industry. The line of products include Ultramid B (polyamide 6), Ultramid C (polyamide 6/6.6 copolymer), Ultramid A (polyamide 6.6) and Ultramid S Balance (Polyamid 6.10).
BASF operates Ultramid polymerization plants in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Antwerp, Belgium; Freeport, Texas and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Another plant is under construction in Shanghai, China. The production of polyamide for film, textile and carpet fiber as well as for engineering plastics applications is integrated into BASF’s global Verbund structure with polyamide intermediates (i.e. adipic acid, anolon, caprolactam), chemical raw materials (i.e. ammonia, cyclohexane, sulfuric acid), energy, by-product recovery, logistics and other services.
As MRC wrote before, BASF is building a new Ultramid polymerization plant with a capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year in Shanghai, China. The new plant is planned to start up in 2015.
BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN).
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