BASF to build emulsion polymers site in Texas

BASF has announced plans to build a new production plant for emulsion polymers at its integrated ‘Verbund’ site in Freeport, Texas. The plant will allow BASF to better serve the coatings, construction, adhesives and paper industries by expanding the network of manufacturing locations and improve the backward integration of raw materials used in production.

The plant, which is expected to begin production in mid-2014, will create approximately 25 jobs at the Freeport site.

"The new plant strengthens our position as a leading supplier of emulsions in North America and demonstrates our commitment to customers in the coatings, construction, adhesives and paper industries,” said Derek Fairclough, Senior Vice President, Dispersions & Pigments, for BASF in North America. "This investment further supports our business growth strategy, especially in architectural coatings, where we are targeting significant growth with our range of innovative products and solutions.”

The plant will manufacture acrylic emulsion polymers used for architectural coatings, construction chemicals, adhesives and the paper chemicals industry. BASF currently operates three emulsion polymer plants in North America in Monaca, Pennsylvania; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Altamira, Mexico. In addition, BASF is building new manufacturing facilities for emulsion polymers in India and the company also recently opened plants in South Africa and China .