BASF will construct a new polyalkylene glycol-based lubricants manufacturing facility in Ludwigshafen, Germany and start operations by the beginning of 2016.
The project will cost more than 10 million (U.S. $13.6 million), the chemical company said in its press release issued Monday. The plant, which will be built on existing property in its fully-integrated Ludwigshafen complex, will produce PAG-based lubricant base stocks along with formulated blends.
PAG base stocks are used for synthetic lubricants formulations such as gear oils, compressor oils, metalworking fluids, and fire-resistant hydraulic fluids.
Integration at BASFs Ludwigshafen site means that BASF will support the production unit with its own raw materials necessary for PAG production, including ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, the company noted. Lube Report wasnt able to reach BASF by deadline.
According to LubesnGreases, BASFs PAG plants in Ludswigshafen and Dusseldorf, Germany, have a combined 22,000 metric tons per year capacity, and the companys U.S. plants in Spartanburg, S.C., and Washington, N.J., have a combined 60,000 mt/y capacity.
The European Commission ordered BASF to divest its PAG and PAG-based lubricants production plant in Hythe, England, in December 2010 following its acquisition of Cognis. In 2011, GEO Specialty Chemicals bought BASFs bisomer monomer business, including the former Cognis plant in Hythe.