BASF to reduce polystyrene capacity in Europe by about 15 percent

One production plant in Ludwigshafen to be permanently closed
Personnel to be transferred to other functions within the company

Effective June 30, 2009, BASF will close one polystyrene plant at the Ludwigshafen site. This will reduce BASF’s annual production capacity for the standard plastic polystyrene in Europe by 80,000 to 540,000 metric tons, what comes up to a capacity reduction of about 15 percent.

The main reason for the shutdown is the decrease in demand for Polystyrene. The affected plant, which has been out of operation since mid-April, will be dismantled. Personnel working at this plant will transfer to other positions within the company.

Polystyrene will continue to be produced by BASF in Ludwigshafen but it will serve primarily for the manufacture of the two BASF insulation products Styrodur^® C and Neopor^® (extrusion-based). In the future, orders for Polystyrene from European customers who had previously been supplied from Ludwigshafen will be filled mainly from the plant at BASF’s Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium.

“We are working intensively to restructure our Styrenics business and increase its profitability. In doing so, we are investigating all options in order to strengthen the business on a sustainable basis. This also includes reducing production capacities. We nevertheless still intend to sell this business,” explained Dr. Joachim Streu, head of BASF’s Styrenics business.

Polystyrene (PS) is a standard plastic in BASF’s Styrenics product line. It is employed in the packaging industry, for refrigerator linings and also as a housing material for numerous household and office products. Within BASF, Polystyrene is further processed into insulating materials such as the green foam panels Styrodur C (XPS: extruded polystyrene) and the extrusion-based foam precursor Neopor (EPS: expandable polystyrene).

About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals as well as oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008 and had approximately 97,000employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

Trade press:

Dr. Sabine Philipp
Phone: +49 (0)621 60 43348
Fax: +49 (0)621 60 49497
Mail: sabine.philipp@basf.com

Local and business media:

Thomas Möller
Phone: +49.621 60-99391
Fax: +49.621 60-92933
thomas.moeller@basf.com

P-09-283

1

About BASF