Shanghai BASF Polyurethane Co., Ltd. Image source: BASF officials website

Project Overview

• Project Name: MDI Production Expansion Project
• Project Type: Expansion
• Industry: C2614 Organic Chemical Raw Material Manufacturing; C2611 Inorganic Acid Manufacturing
• Construction Entity: Shanghai BASF Polyurethane Co., Ltd.
• Location: Within SBPC’s existing plant
• Total Investment: 450 million yuan, including 200,000 yuan for environmental protection (0.044%)
• Land Use: No additional land required
• Construction Plan:
• Phase 1: Expected to start in May 2025, with completion and commissioning in June 2025.
• Phase 2: Expected to start in November 2027, with completion and commissioning in January 2028.

Product Plan

Currently, SBPC's crude MDI production capacity cannot meet sales demand in nearby markets. To address this, SBPC plans to enhance production efficiency by upgrading bottleneck equipment, increasing production time for Nitrobenzene/Aniline and MDA/Crude MDI units from 7,500 hours per year to 8,000 hours per year. This will boost the capacity of related production units.

The expansion project will add the following production capacities:

• Nitric Acid Unit: +98,949 t/a
• Nitrobenzene/Aniline Unit:
  • Nitrobenzene: +80,000 t/a
  • Aniline: +50,000 t/a
• MDA/Crude MDI Unit:
  • MDA: +128,000 t/a
  • Crude MDI: +161,760 t/a

Upon completion, SBPC's production capacities will increase to:

• Nitric Acid: 514,635 t/a
• Nitrobenzene: 320,000 t/a
• Aniline: 230,000 t/a
• MDA: 320,000 t/a
• Crude MDI: 401,760 t/a

The capacities of the Dinitrotoluene (DNT) unit (259,907 t/a), Toluene Diisocyanate (TDI) unit (220,000 t/a), and Diphenylmethane Diisocyanate (MMDI) unit (300,000 t/a) remain unchanged.

The expansion primarily leverages existing nitric acid, nitrobenzene/aniline, and MDA/crude MDI production facilities. Only a few new pieces of equipment will be added to the MDA/crude MDI unit, while the nitric acid and nitrobenzene/aniline units will undergo partial modifications to enhance production capacity.

Phase 1 will expand the production capacities of the nitric acid, nitrobenzene/aniline, and MDA/crude MDI units, along with their supporting chlorine purification systems. Phase 2 will further expand the MDA/crude MDI unit and its chlorine purification system.

Company Profile

Shanghai BASF Polyurethane Co., Ltd. (SBPC) was established in March 2003 and is located on the easternmost side of Plot D1 in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park. It was one of the three original Sino-foreign joint ventures forming the Shanghai United Isocyanates Project. This project consists of Shanghai Lianheng Isocyanate Co., Ltd. (SLIC), Shanghai Huntsman Polyurethane Co., Ltd. (HPS), and Shanghai BASF Polyurethane Co., Ltd. (SBPC), all of which were independently registered and constructed.

On July 28, 2023, SLIC signed an asset transfer agreement with HPS and SBPC, selling off its production units separately. SBPC acquired SLIC’s cMDI (Crude MDI) and Nitrobenzene/Aniline units.

The asset acquisition was completed on February 1, 2024. Following the acquisition, SBPC now occupies approximately 290,000 square meters and focuses on phosgene-based products, forming a production scale centered around polyurethane products such as TDI, MDI, and inorganic acids like nitric acid.

On October 15, 2024, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment also accepted the EIA report for the 385,000 t/a MDI expansion project of Shanghai Huntsman Polyurethane Co., Ltd. (HPS).

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