German chemicals giant BASF said Wednesday it plans to double the production of phthalate-free plasticizer DINCH -- Di-isononyl-cyclohexane dicarboxylate -- by 2013 to meet increasing demand for alternative plasticizers.
BASF will build another 100,000 mt/year plant at Ludwigshafen, the company said in a statement. The site already hosts a similar unit producing Hexamoll DINCH, which had its nameplate capacity increased from initial 25,000 mt/year to 100,000 mt/year in 2007.
The product is approved by the national and European authorities for use in food packaging. It is also suitable for production of medical applications, toys, sport and leisure articles, textile coatings and cosmetic 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," Rainer Diercks, president of BASF's Petrochemicals Division, said in the statement.
Phthalate plasticizers have seen a significant decrease in demand over the recent years due to health and safety concerns. As a result of EU's measures ruling out the use of phthalate-based plasticizers for some applications, main producers of plasticizers have been diversifying their portfolios and moving towards production of non-phthalate product.
