Monomers
The Monomers division supplies a broad portfolio of large-volume monomers, basic polymers and inorganic chemicals. Major products include MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate), TDI (toluene diisocyanate), propylene oxide, caprolactam, adipic acid, hexamethylenediamine, ammonia, polyamide 6 and 6.6, nitric acid, sulfur and chlorine products, inorganic salts, urea, glues and impregnating resins. The products are used in a broad spectrum of industries, such as automotive, furniture, construction, woodworking, food, pharmaceuticals, feed, solar, packaging and textiles. The division is in a key position to drive the sustainable transformation of these industries. It is therefore expanding its portfolio of products with a lower CO2 footprint and is committed to providing a circular or a low product carbon footprint (PCF) option in every major product line by 2025.
Sales by region 2023 (location of customer)
Sales by direct customer industry 2023
Glues and impregnating resins
BASF, the inventor of Kaurit® and Kauramin® glues, is the number one producer and seller of glues and impregnating resins for different types of panel boards and laminated flooring. The portfolio encompasses liquid and powder glues specifically developed to produce a broad range of wood-based materials that meet low-emission standards. Powder glues are also used in other industries, for example, to produce clutch linings in vehicles. BASF’s impregnating resins have been designed for the treatment of various papers, including overlay, counterbalance and decor papers for the flooring or furniture industry. Additionally, BASF produces AdBlue®, a high-purity urea solution that is used in trucks and passenger cars to reduce NOx emissions from diesel engines.
Inorganic chemicals
Inorganic chemicals are mainly used as precursors for plastics, amines and other high-value chemicals. The product portfolio ranges from basic chemicals to inorganic salts and includes ammonia, ammonium salts, caustic soda, chlorine, nitric acid, standard alcoholates and sulfuric acid.
More than half of these products are for captive use within BASF’s Verbund. The remaining products are sold primarily to other chemical companies. We are also one of the leading suppliers of sodium nitrate (used as a component for storage media in solar thermal power plants), sodium methylate (a catalyst used for the production of biodiesel) and a variety of inorganic salts for different industries such as food, feed, textiles and paper.
Isocyanates and propylene oxide
The portfolio of isocyanates consists of MDI and TDI. BASF is a world leader in isocyanates, which are key components to produce soft or rigid foams. MDI is a versatile isocyanate that can be used to make flexible foams as well as semi-rigid and rigid polyurethane plastics. Its primary applications are construction, consumer appliances, automotive components and shoe soles. TDI is an isocyanate used primarily in the manufacturing of flexible foams. Its main applications include mattresses and cushions for furniture and automotive seating.
Propylene oxide is the main raw material for polyether polyols. Polyols are – together with isocyanates – the second key component for polyurethane foams. Other applications for propylene oxide are propylene glycols, surfactants and amines.
Polyamides and precursors
BASF is the world’s leading supplier of high-quality polyamides, with the trade name Ultramid®, and polyamide precursors such as caprolactam, hexamethylenediamine (HMD) or adipic acid. BASF started manufacturing Ultramid® polyamides over 50 years ago. Today, BASF offers a wide product range of polyamides for injection molding and extrusion. The product range includes PA 6 grades (Ultramid® B), PA 6.6 grades (Ultramid® A), special grades based on copolyamides (Ultramid® C) as well as Ultramid® Ccycled®, which is produced using recycled plastic waste or end-of-life tires and biomass-balanced Ultramid® derived from renewable raw materials.
Polyamides from BASF are the materials of choice for many applications:
- Engineering plastics: Ultramid® is used to produce molding compounds. Due to their outstanding properties, these materials have become indispensable in almost all fields of engineering for the most varied components and machine parts for the automotive industry, as high-quality electrical insulating materials and for many special applications.
- Films for food packaging: Ultramid® is especially well-suited for the packaging sector due to its high strength, outstanding thermoformability, high thermal stability and very good barrier properties toward gases, especially oxygen, flavors and aromas.
- Textiles: With loopamid®, BASF offers the first polyamide 6 that is entirely made from textile waste, thus closing the loop for nylon garments. The variety of Ultramid® grades for textiles enables the manufacturing of superior quality textiles for hosiery, swimwear and high-tech outdoor garments as well as high-end polyamide carpets and technical fiber applications.
The Monomers division holds one of the top three market positions in around three-quarters of the strategic business areas in which it is active.
The main competitors (alphabetical order) include AdvanSix, Ascend, Covestro, Dow, Envalior, Huntsman, Ube and Wanhua.
R&D efforts are focused on process innovation to optimize our large asset base as well as the development of new products and applications to support the division’s sustainability goals.
From 2021 onward
| Product group | Description | Year |
| HMD | New world-scale plant in Chalampé, France | 2024 |
| MDI | Expansion of production in Geismar, Louisiana (staggered investment approach) | 2020-2025 |
From 2021 onward
| Product group | Description | Year |
| Adipic acid value chain | Partial closure of the adipic acid plant; closure of the plant for the precursors cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone, and the soda ash plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany | 2023–2026 |
| Ammonia value chain | Closure of one of two ammonia plants, the melamine plant and the ammonium sulfate nitrate fertilizer plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany | 2023 |
| Closure of the caprolactam plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany | 2023–2026 | |
| TDI | Closure of the TDI complex in Ludwigshafen, Germany | 2023 |
Thousand metric tons per year
| Product group | Capacity |
| Adipic acid | 620 |
| Ammonia | 1,370 |
| Caprolactam | 600 |
| Chlorine | 595 |
| Isocyanates | 2,400 |
| Polyamides 6 and 6.6 | 885 |
| Propylene oxide | 675 |
| Sulfuric acid | 920 |
| Urea | 545 |
1 All capacities are included at 100%, including plants belonging to joint operations and joint ventures.
© Inditex
loopamid® – the first circular nylon 6 entirely based on textile waste
With loopamid®, BASF has developed an innovative solution to improve circularity in the fashion industry by recycling polyamide 6 textile waste. Because it tolerates all fabric mixtures like PA6 and elastane, the cutting-edge technology behind loopamid® allows textile-to-textile recycling of post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste, thereby closing the loop for nylon apparel. The fibers and materials can be recycled over multiple cycles. At the same time, the material characteristics are identical to those of conventional virgin polyamide.
Discover more at www.loopamid.com