BASF JCIC Neopentylglycol Co. Ltd., a 60/40 joint venture company of BASF and Jilin Chemical Industrial Co. Ltd. based in northeast China, is increasing its capacity for neopentylglycol (NPG), a building block in the production of synthetic lubricants.
The increased NPG capacity is expected to flow in Asia, a BASF spokesman told Lube Report.
The addition of 10,000 metric tons to the facility in Jilin, China, and increase of 10,000 metric tons at the BASF facility in Ludwigshafen, Germany, announced in March, will collectively raise the chemical manufacturers global annual capacity to 165,000 metric tons by the end of 2007.
The capacity increase is due to a growing demand for the chemical intermediate found mainly in coating applications, according to the company.
NPGs are used to manufacture powder coating resins, unsaturated polyesters, solvent-free and high-solid liquid coatings, plasticizers and pharmaceuticals. Neol, a brand of NPG, is used to manufacture diesters used in the production of synthetic lubricants.
Headquartered in Ludwigshafen, BASF is a global manufacturer of chemicals, plastics, agricultural and performance products such as coatings and functional polymers. In addition to its NPG facilities in Asia and Europe, it operates a plant in Freeport, Texas.