BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) announced that its Intermediates division has inaugurated a new neopentyl glycol (NPG) plant at the Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. Following the start-up of the new plant with a production capacity of 80,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), BASF’s global NPG capacity increases from 255,000 to 335,000 m.t./yr, strengthening its position as one of the world’s leading NPG manufacturers. NPG is an intermediate mainly used in the production of powder coating resins. The first customer delivery was made in October.
Meanwhile, BASF has launched NPG with a reduced product carbon footprint (rPCF), namely NEOL® Neopentylglycol solution 90% rPCF AP1, for the NPG produced at the Zhanjiang Verbund site. Preliminary evaluations indicate that the PCF of NPG produced in Zhanjiang is lower than the PCF of the same product manufactured at BASF’s existing NPG plants in Asia2, due to the site’s highly efficient production technologies, Verbund integration benefits, as well as the use of lower carbon footprint chemical feedstocks and 100% renewable electricity.
Michael Becker, Senior Vice President, Intermediates Asia Pacific, BASF, said, “The new NPG plant bolsters our local production footprint by strengthening our speed and responsiveness to increasing customer demand for eco-friendly powder coating resins across Asia Pacific. This represents an important step toward our vision of being the preferred partner for sustainable intermediates.”
Powder coatings are widely used in various industries, such as building materials, general industry, home appliances, furniture, automobiles, and 3C products3. Due to their low volatile organic compounds (VOC), powder coatings enable their users to comply with VOC emission standards by reducing the release of VOCs by up to 50% compared to liquid coatings. Other applications for NPG include the manufacture of lubricants, plasticizers and pharmaceuticals such as ibuprofen.