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BASF blamed the closures on overcapacity in the region
18/09/2012
BASF shuts Malaysia, India polystyrene plants
Around 115 jobs lost as ‘inevitable’ closures hit
Richard Jansen
CHEMICALS giant BASF is to close two expandable polystyrene (EPS) plants in central and eastern Asia, blaming overcapacity in the region.
The plants are based at Pasir Gudang in Malaysia and Thane in India, and employ around 65 and 50 workers respectively. Between them they produce more than 100,000 t/y of BASF’s Styropor-branded EPS, which is widely used as a packaging and insulation material. BASF says it plans to have completely stopped production at both sites by the end of the year.
Giorgio Greening, head of BASF’s foams unit, says that the company had far too much production capacity in the region, making the closures “inevitable.”
“These overcapacities have led to extremely low margins which make our operations in India and Malaysia uneconomic,” he explains.
The company says it will instead focus on growing its new Neopor line of EPS, which is produced at sites in South Korea and Germany.
