BASF sells Canadian PS business

BASF Corp. announced that it is selling its polystyrene business in Canada and the United States to INEOS Americas, LLC, the North American subsidiary of INEOS, the international chemical company based in the UK. The sale, which is subject to approval, will include BASF’s PS production facility in Joliet, IL, and involve the transfer of approximately 140 employees to INEOS.
"The Joliet site is no longer consistent with BASF’s site integration strategy," said Fred Baumgartner, global president of styrenics for BASF. "While we are committed to our remaining styrenics portfolio in North America, the sale of this business in another major step in our process of realigning the global styrenics business to ensure long-term profitable growth."
The Joliet polystyrene facility has a total capacity of approximately 850 million lb./yr., and produces general-purpose polystyrene and high-impact polystyrene. BASF is the second-leading supplier of PS in the world, and was the fourth largest producer of PS in the United States