APIC ’08: EU’s Reach to hamper innovation - BASF

27 May 2008 12:32  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--German chemicals firm BASF expects Europe’s Reach legislation to hamper innovation, Albert Heuser, the president of the company’s global petrochemicals division said on Tuesday.

 

“New innovative products will have to sustain high costs. Toxicology tests involved may be a burden in the future,” he said on the sidelines of the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC).

 

Reach - EU’s wide-ranging plan for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals - was currently being put into force with pre-registration due to begin on 1 June and Heuser said toxicology tests for its non-phthalate plasticiser - Hexamoll DINCH - had cost it €5m ($7.9m).

 

“The cost will be at such levels for other applications too. It will place a high burden on innovation. Companies will have to select products more carefully in future,” he said.

 

He added sensitive applications such as for use in toys, wrapping for food and medical applications would have to undergo toxicology tests.

 

“There is no way out of Reach. We will have to look for blockbusters,” Heuser said.

 

BASF’s 25,000 tonne/year Hexamoll plant reached fully capacity in 2006 and was expanded to 100,000 tonnes/year the following year.

 

Separately, Heuser said that high crude values were exerting margin pressure on cracker businesses.

 

BASF had started the year with an assumption of crude at $78/bbl and this was increased to $90/bbl but current crude values were far higher than expectations, having breached the $135/bbl mark last week.

 

He added BASF had a hedging strategy to partly counter the high prices.

 

($1 = €0.63)

 

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By: Abdul Hadhi
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