BASF Antwerp: New superabsorbents plant starts operations
Strube stresses the importance of the capital expenditure for the Antwerp site and for BASF in general: "Antwerp is our second-largest Verbund site worldwide and we intend to develop the site further. Here, we are setting new standards in terms of product quality and competitiveness with our new superabsorbents plant. The plant is linked virtually directly with one of our most modern acrylic acid plants. This means that we are not only strengthening our Verbund strategy in Antwerp, but is also a clear sign that our global superabsorbents business has become a firm cornerstone of our acrylic acid value-adding chain." BASF is world leader in both acrylic acid and superabsorbents, which are derived directly from it.
BASF operates further superabsorbents plants in Mannheim, Germany; Portsmouth, Virginia; Aberdeen, Mississippi; and Rayong, Thailand. Due to the closure of its plants in Birkenhead, United Kingdom and in Frankfurt, Germany, BASF's global capacity for superabsorbents remains unchanged at 305,000 metric tons per year. BASF has plants for the production of acrylic monomers in Europe, the NAFTA region, Asia and South America, and its total world capacity is 850,000 metric tons per year.
Superabsorbents are cross-linked polymers made from acrylic acid which can absorb up to 1,000 times their own weight of liquid and retain the liquid even under pressure. They are currently used mainly to produce hygiene products such as diapers, incontinence products, sanitary towels and tampons. Other applications are in agriculture and in the electrical and packaging industries.
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