BASF and China's Sinopec broke ground Friday on the construction of its world-scale isononanol (INA) plant in the Maoming Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone in Maoming, China.

At start-up in 2015, the plant, which is the first of its kind in China, will serve the increasing market demand for next-generation plasticizers.

A newly-formed 50-50 joint venture company has been created, BASF MPCC Co. The new plant will bring around 100 new jobs in Maoming.

“High quality and reliable plasticizers help underpin industrial growth, and with this plant we will be well positioned to serve China’s growing demands," said Dr. Albert Heuser, BASF's president of Asia-Pacific functions and president and chairman of greater China

"Additionally, this project brings us a step closer to BASF’s strategic goal to better serve local industries with local production in Asia Pacific of approximately 75% by 2020," he added. The new joint venture with Sinopec also solidifies our already strong partnership, and demonstrates BASF’s long-term commitment to China."

“This project is the first of its kind to bring BASF’s advanced INA technology into China, and to build a world-scale INA plant at Maoming Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone," added Dr. Yu Xizhi, president of Sinopec Maoming Company. "It not only fills the country’s INA production gap, but also opens a new chapter for the strategic alliance between Sinopec and BASF."

INA is used as the feedstock for the production of next generation plasticizers, including diisononyl phthalate (DINP) and non-phthalate plasticizer Hexamoll DINCH.

DINP is widely used as a plasticizer in industrial applications such as automotive, wires, building and construction, while Hexamoll DINCH is BASF’s non-phthalate plasticizer for sensitive applications, including toys as well as food contact and medical applications.

BASF and Sinopec have a longtime partnership and jointly operate BASF-YPC Co. Ltd., a 50-50 joint venture formed in 2000 between the companies in Nanjing, China.

(hydrocarbonprocessing.com Jan 24, 2014)