• BASF Korea to provide MDI products with significantly improved carbon footprint compared to products solely based on conventional feedstock
  • BASF's Yeosu site is the first production site in Korea to deliver biomass balanced MDI
  • BASF aims to set up a more sustainable isocyanates value chain to cater to the sustainability needs of the rapidly growing market in Asia

Yeosu, Korea / September 13, 2023 - BASF announced that its Yeosu site in Korea has successfully produced the first biomass balanced (BMB) methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). This milestone development underlines BASF's commitment to building a more sustainable MDI value chain.

MDI is a key component in the production of polyurethane, which is widely used in industries such as automotive, construction, and electronics. Traditionally, MDI is produced from fossil-based raw materials. With the increasing global demand for sustainable solutions, BASF has now developed biomass balanced MDI, made with biomass-balanced benzene. At the beginning of the production chain, the renewable feedstock needed to produce the biomass balanced benzene has been fed into the production system. A corresponding share of the renewable feedstock is then attributed to the MDI by means of a certified mass balance method. Certification of BASF's biomass balanced products is carried out according to recognized standards like REDcert2 or ISCC PLUS*. Using renewable raw material in the production system helps improve the product carbon footprint (PCF) of our customers along the value chain in comparison to the regular MDI solely based on conventional feedstock.

"The biomass balanced MDI is an important step in our journey towards a circular economy," said Claudia Huang, Senior Vice President, Monomers Asia-Pacific, BASF. "We are happy to see our customers in the region willing to join the low-PCF team and collaborate with us to develop high-performance products in a more sustainable way."

"At Monomers we are committed to provide a circular or low-PCF options for all our major value chains. We therefore certify our assets globally according to ISCC+ and REDcert2. Yeosu is our first Asian MDI production site where we now can produce certified BMB products", said Jens Aßmann, Vice President Sustainability at BASF Monomers.

Dr. Dschun Song, Managing Director, BASF Company Ltd., also shared his insight: "With the production and supply of BMB MDI to our customers in Asia-Pacific, BASF in Korea further expands its low-PCF product portfolio and is well-positioned to cater the needs of customers in- and outside of Korea."

The biomass balanced MDI produced at the Yeosu site will be supplied to customers in the Asia Pacific region, further supporting BASF's goal of providing sustainable solutions to meet the growing demands of its customers in the region.

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BASF India Ltd. published this content on 11 October 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 12 October 2023 02:02:09 UTC.