BP expands with polystyrene buy
15 Jan 2000
BPChemicals is set to become one of the leading players in the styrene derivatives market with the acquisition of Huls' styrenics business, Styrenix Kunststoffe. Costing some $200 million, the deal is BP's largest chemicals acquisition for 15 years.
The deal adds two styrenics sites with a total of 480 employees at Marl in Germany and Trelleborg, Sweden to BP's current roster at Wingles, near Lille, and Baglan Bay. The Marl site is the larger, with capacity for 420000 of ethyl benzene; 380000tpa of styrene; 180000tpa of polystyrene; 75000tpa of expandable polystyrene and 250000tpa of cumene. Trelleborg has capacity for 70000tpa of polystyrene.
When added to capacities at Wingles and Baglan Bay (including expansions slated to start-up at Wingles next year), BP Chemicals' total styrenics capacity will be 370000tpa of polystyrene, the fifth largest in Europe, and 145000tpa of expandable polystyrene, putting it in third place. The market leader in both is BASF, with 642000tpa of PS and 215000tpa of EPS.
Huls had been in talks with several styrene producers, notably Enichem. 'We have been searching for a strong partner for a long time, and with BPwe have found the ideal match,' commented Huls chairman Erhard Meyer-Galow.
