BASF Bolsters Vitamin A Production with New Plant

04 Oct 2016 --- BASF is building a new German-based plant for vitamin A which will increase capacity by 1,500 metric tons per year. The company has already started planning the construction and plans to bring the new world-class facility to fruition by 2020. 

“Our key driver is to support the growth plans of our customers. We want to ensure the long-term supply of high quality vitamin A in order to meet the growing market demand," Christopher Rieker, Head of BASF’s Animal Nutrition Business tells FoodIngredientsFirst.
 
Francois Scheffler, Head of BASF’s Human Nutrition Business also tells us: “Our focus is on improving people’s health with the right nutrients, to the right people, at the right time. With this investment, we are particularly focusing on combating lack of nutrient density in foods causing wide spread malnutrition. As a leading supplier of health ingredients, we provide sustainable, safe and scientifically proven solutions, around the world, and in varied applications, from food fortification to elite sport nutrition.”

“We can make optimal use of our resources by fully integrating the new production facility into BASF’s production Verbund. This significant investment also emphasizes the competitive position of the Ludwigshafen site,” said Michael Heinz, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF SE. 

“A new world-scale plant will empower us to even better support our customers’ growth plans with high supply reliability and superior product quality,” adds Saori Dubourg, president BASF Nutrition & Health.

The Ludwigshafen investment will ensure BASF’s long-term supply and to keep pace with the growing demand of the market. The company produces vitamin A for animal and human nutrition as well as the cosmetic industry. 

This announcement follows Markus Heldt BASF crop protection unit president, speaking about the company sizing up acquisition targets coming out of the wave of big merges currently going on in the agrochemical industry. Last month he said, BASF was “actively pursuing opportunities.”