BASF is restructuring its polyamide 6 production in Europe. It has decided that production should all be handled at its Verbund sites in Antwerp, Belgium, and Ludwigshafen, Germany. Polyamide 6 production of a third European production site in Rudolstadt, Germany, will stop at the end of 2010. The restructuring measure will result in the loss of 58 positions in Rudolstadt.

“By focusing on the large, backward-integrated Verbund sites, we are improving our cost basis and safeguarding our competitiveness in the European polyamide 6 market,” explained Dr Harald Lauke, head of BASF’s performance polymers division.

“We will work closely with the employee representatives to find socially responsible solutions for the employees,” said Manfred Heckmann, managing director of the performance polymers division.

In Ludwigshafen, production will focus on higher margin products. The resulting optimisation of production processes and the reduction of production capacity will eliminate 19 positions. Affected employees will be offered other positions at BASF SE in Ludwigshafen.

In total, these measures will reduce the firm’s polymerisation capacity by 40,000 tons to 680,000 tons (polyamide 6 and 6.6), a reduction of around 6%.

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