Basf Will Close A Chemical Plant In Japan

BASF Idemitsu Co. Ltd. (BIC), a joint venture between BASF Ag (BASF) and IKC , is closing its 1, 4-butanediol (BDO) plant in Chiba, Japan.The joint venture agreement between BASF and IKC will then expire.

Basf decided to agree with IKC to close the BIC plant as part of its global long-term options assessment of assets in its BDO value chain.The BIC plant has 21 employees, each of whom will be assigned to IKC or other BASF group jobs in Japan.

BASF has production plants for BDO and its derivatives in Asia, North America and Europe. BASF will continue to provide BDO from its global plants to Japanese customers currently supplied by BIC.

Vasilios Galanos, senior vice President of BASF Intermediates Asia Pacific said, as one of the leading companies in BDO and its derivatives business, we will continue to provide high-quality product support to our customers around the world.The recent actions are part of our strategy to ensure that we further enhance our competitiveness in the market, thereby increasing long-term value for our customer business and BASF.

BIC President Masaru Saitoh explained: “Due to the shrinking scale of the Japanese BDO market and the recent investment in new coal-based BDO production bases in Asia, which has resulted in serious overcapacity, the closure of the Chiba plant has become inevitable.” BIC is working with all customers. Contact to support its smooth transition.

BDO and its derivatives are important chemical raw materials in the production of engineering plastics, polyurethane, solvents and elastic spandex fibers.