BASF expands capacity for cyclohexane oxidation

BASF will increase its capacity for cyclohexane oxidation at its Antwerp Verbund site by about 50,000 tons per year. The total investment amounts to about €10 million. Cyclohexane oxidation products are important intermediates for caprolactam and adipic acid, starting materials for polyamide 6 (PA 6) and polyamide 6.6 (PA 6.6). PA 6 and PA 6.6 are used in lightweight components for cars, flexible food packaging, fishing lines and nets through to textile fibers for outdoor sportswear and carpets.

Strengthening of BASF’s polyamide 6 and polyamide 6.6 value chain
„By expanding the cyclohexane oxidation capacity, we are further increasing backward integration of the polyamide value chain at the Antwerp Verbund site. This debottlenecking project will help us to reduce our dependency on external suppliers of cyclohexane oxidation products ,“ says Hermann Althoff, Head of the Polyamide and Intermediates global business unit at BASF.

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The expansion will be implemented as part of two long-term planned turnarounds and is intended to be completed by the end of 2014 . BASF is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of polyamide and its intermediates and operates cyclohexane oxidation units at the Verbund sites in Ludwigshafen, Antwerp and Freeport.

More information: www.basf.com

BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany