BASF has started up a new 155,000 t/y butadiene extraction plant at Antwerp, Belgium, complementing a 105,000 t/y unit at its Ludwigshafen, Germany, home base.

The new facility, which extracts butadiene from crude C4, more than doubles European output capability. It also secures the group's internal supply at competitive costs and enables it to take advantage of opportunities on the external market, said Uwe Kirchgäßner, head of the business unit Basic Petrochemicals Europe.

"With the new plant we are further developing the integration of the C4 value chain in Antwerp," said Wouter de Geest, CEO of BASF Antwerpen, adding that the investment strengthens the integration of the Antwerp site.