Global demand for methane sulfonic acid (MSA) has increased steadily over the past years. This trend is fuelled by a growing interest in environmentally-optimised products and formulations. In response to growing customer demand, BASF has invested a higher double-digit million euro amount to expand production capacities at the Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
“With this investment, we are helping our global customer base to formulate environmentally-optimised high-performance products. In doing so, we are supporting our customers’ growth in this dynamic market as a reliable supplier,” says Soeren Hildebrandt, Senior Vice President Home Care, I&I and Industrial Formulators Europe. The investment increases capacity at the Ludwigshafen site to a total of 50 000 tpy.
MSA – sold under the Lutropur® MSA brand – is a highly-active organic acid with a unique combination of properties that sets it apart from all other acids: MSA is a strong acid that forms highly-soluble salts as well as being colourless, odorless, and readily-biodegradable. Because of its excellent properties, MSA is used in numerous applications ranging from chemical and biofuel synthesis to industrial cleaning and metal surface treatment in the electronics industry.