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More cuts to come at Ludwigshafen

In its annual results presentation, BASF announced plans to reduce costs at its main verbund site in Ludwigshafen by a further €1 billion/year by the end of 2026. This comes on top of a similar scale of cuts initiated in late 2022.

Last year, results in Germany suffered due to substantially negative earnings at Ludwigshafen, the company said. This was attributed to two main causes: the temporary low-demand environment is affecting volume development both upstream and downstream, while structurally high energy prices are raising production costs upstream.

Consortium to study NAMs

ECHA has contracted a consortium led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology & Experimental Medicine (ITEM) to conduct scientific studies on the reliability and relevance of new approach methodologies (NAMs) as alternatives to animal testing and to promote their use. This will run for six years, with €4.2 million in ECHA funding.

BASF and Stena in black mass agreement

BASF and Swedish firm have entered into a black mass purchase agreement. This is described as part of a broader collaboration, with the goal of setting up a battery recycling value chain for the European electric vehicle (EV) battery market.

BASF starts SAP excellence centre

BASF has started production in its €25 million excellence centre for superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) at its verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium, with €1.4 million in support from the Government of Flanders. This features a pilot plant equipped with advanced data collection and sensor technology to increase innovation capabilities in SAPs and accelerate scale-up from product development to production scale at the nearby commercial plant.

BASF starts up EO complex

BASF has expanded capacity for ethylene oxide (EO) and derivatives at its verbund site in Antwerp, adding 400,000 tonnes/year in total. The €500 million+ investment comprises a second world-scale EO plant, including capacity for purified EO and alkoxylates. About 100 new jobs have been created.

BASF in battery recycling deal

Under a new deal, BASF is to produce cathode active materials (CAMs) from recycled metals from its site at Battle Creek, Michigan, for use in Li-ion battery cells produced by Nanotech Energy, a US specialist in graphene-based energy storage products.  The two will also partner with American Battery Technology (ABTC), a Li-ion battery recycling company in Nevada, and Toda Advanced Materials, an Ontario firm which produces CAM precursors (pCAMs) and metal hydroxide material, to establish a battery value chain for the North American consumer electronics and automotive industries.

Shanghai expansion unveiled

BASF has inaugurated the expansion of its Innovation Campus Shanghai. Originally opened in 2012 and twice updated through total investments of €280 million, the campus is BASF’s largest R&D site in Asia. The two new R&D buildings will house laboratories for:

* Process engineering, focusing on the formation and handling of solids and polymer recycling technologies

* Dispersions & resins, include robotic automation to test scrub resistance and tensile strength, and characterise coating film appearance

* Metal surface & industrial cleaning processes

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