BASF plasticizer Hexamoll® DINCH grows from strength to strength

*Production capacity doubles to 200,000 metric tons per year due to strong demand
*Construction of a second production plant in Ludwigshafen increases supply security worldwide



BASF is planning to double production of its phthalate-free plasticizer Hexamoll® DINCH from 100,000 metric tons to 200,000 metric tons per year at the Ludwigshafen site by 2013. Therefore a second production plant will now be built in Ludwigshafen. This will enhance supply security worldwide while continuing to ensure consistently high quality.



The decision is based on a strong increase in demand across all regions as well as the continued growth of demand for alternative plasticizers. This is the second capacity increase for Hexamoll® DINCH since its successful market launch in 2002. In 2007, the original production capacity of 25,000 metric tons per year was quadrupled to 100,000.



Hexamoll® DINCH is a plasticizer that offers maximum safety, which is why demand for the product has grown continuously since it was first launched. While demand initially came mainly from manufacturers of toys and leisure articles, due to its outstanding properties the phthalate-free plasticizer is now increasingly being used in medical applications and food packaging. Thanks to its excellent toxicological profile, Hexamoll® DINCH has already proven its worth in the medical sector. The additive has shown exceptional suitability for highly sensitive products such as blood bags, nutrition tubes, catheters and breathing masks. Further to these ultra-sensitive applications, Hexamoll® DINCH is now increasingly being used in applications for general indoor use: leading wallpaper manufacturers, for example, are now using the innovative plasticizer. Thanks to its technical properties, Hexamoll® DINCH can be used in many different applications.



Extensive research and multiple testing have made Hexamoll® DINCH the best researched plasticizer on the market. Hexamoll® DINCH has been endorsed by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) for use in food packaging and approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for food contact products. Another advantage of Hexamoll® DINCH is its extremely low migration rate, which has been tested and confirmed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging.



“With Hexamoll® DINCH, both we and our customers are ideally equipped for the future”, said Prof. Dr. Rainer Diercks, president of BASF’s Petrochemicals Division. “This phthalate-free plasticizer plays a big role in human contact applications. Due to the disproportionately high demand and growing global demand for alternative plasticizers, we have decided to expand our production capacity once again. This will strengthen our market position and open up new opportunities for Hexamoll® DINCH. Expansion in the form of a second production plant will enable us to supply our customers around the world more successfully and more reliably in the future.”



Plasticizers are used to make brittle and hard PVC soft and supple. This makes numerous new applications possible. Without plasticizers, many PVC products such as cables, flooring, films, blood bags and toys would be unthinkable in our everyday lives. Both Hexamoll and DINCH are BASF registered trademarks.



About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and agricultural products to oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF creates chemistry to help its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of about €63.9 billion in 2010 and had approximately 109,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com