BASF breaks ground on MDI capacity expansion in US

Geismar, Louisiana – BASF has broken ground on the third and final phase of the methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) expansion project at its Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana.

The final project, announced in July 2022, will see the German chemicals group investing $870 million in the Geismar facility to increase MDI production capacity to 600 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa).

The target capacity, said BASF 11 Jan, will be reached “by the middle of the decade” and will support the ongoing growth of its North American customers.

Including the first and second phases, BASF’s total investment amounts to $1 billion, making it the group’s “largest wholly owned investment in North America.”