BASF to build new formic acid plant in the USA

The new plant will create 20 new jobs and have an annual capacity of more than 50,000 tonnes. Being the only formic acid production plant in North America i will allow BASF to better serve strategic markets in North and South America including applications for pharmaceuticals, energy, animal nutrition, leather and cleaning products. Start-up of the new plant is expected in the 2^nd quarter 2014. BASF currently operates two formic acid production plants located at the company’s integrated Verbund sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Nanjing, China, with a total annual capacity of more than 255,000 tonnes.

 

BASF’s customers use formic acid as an eco-friendly solution in a wide range of applications such as in animal feed where it provides protection of the feed and supports the health of the animal itself. Potassium formate, a salt of formic acid, is an environmentally friendly and highly efficient de-icing agent used on roads and airport runways. It is easily biodegradable thereby protecting aquatic wildlife in nearby rivers and watersheds. Both formic acid and potassium formate are used in the oil field industry as part of the drilling and completion process, as well as in shale gas exploration to promote extraction. Formic acid is an excellent de-scaling agent as well, and is used in industrial cleaning to remove mineral deposits from desalination plants, refineries and other processing industries.