The investment will enable the firm to provide additional styrene-butadiene dispersions to support the opening of new paper mills in Southeast Asia and Oceania

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BASF’s dispersions plant in Merak Indonesia. (Credit: BASF SE)

German chemical company BASF has unveiled its plans to invest in the capacity expansion of polymer dispersions at its production site in Merak, Indonesia.

The latest expansion aligns with ASEAN’s (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) expanding high-quality packaging trend, where major paper and board producers are based.

BASF Asia Pacific Dispersions senior vice president Bir Darbar Mehta said: “The expansion will bring additional supply reliability to fulfil the growing demand for acrylics and styrene-butadiene dispersions in the Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand markets.

“It shows our commitment to enhancing regional production and providing quick responses to fulfil growing customer demand. It also reinforces BASF’s position as one of the leading and reliable suppliers in the region.”

Mehta added: “With proximity to key raw materials and flexibility to produce both styrene-butadiene and acrylic dispersions, Merak remains a key supply point for all our customers, especially in the area of paper coatings.”

According to the German Chemical firm, high-quality packaging has an expanding market in ASEAN, where there is a significant concentration of big paper and board producers wanting to increase their production there.

The BASF Merak plant includes a jetty on-site to help with logistics and is close to our monomer suppliers. The improved production line will be finished in the second half of 2023.

The Indonesian facility, which opened its doors in 1994, creates polymer dispersions with a wide range of uses in construction, architectural coatings, and paper coatings.

The BASF Dispersions & Resins division creates, manufactures, and distributes a variety of polymer dispersions, resins, additives, and electronic materials globally.

The raw materials are used in a variety of sectors, including coatings, construction, adhesives, printing & packaging, electronics, and paper.

Last month, BASF and Israel-based StePac partnered to develop the latest generation of sustainable packaging for the fresh produce sector.

Under the deal, BASF will deliver its chemically recycled polyamide 6 Ultramid Ccycled to StePac to upgrade contact-sensitive packaging formats to a more sustainable standard.