Isocyanates and Polyols

BASF PU basic products like Isocyanates and Polyols are manufactured in production sites and world scale plants in Asia, Europe and North America. State-of-the-art-technology results in constant, consistent and reliable product quality and product supply. TDI, MDI and Polyols are the basic materials for the production of polyurethanes.

Polyurethanes are an important part of our daily life. They can be tailored easily to nearly all industrial application fields. Flexible polyurethane foams can be used for high-end mattress foams or seating foams, and ensure our safety as dampening foams for automotive applications. Polyurethane rigid foams help reduce energy losses due to their superior insulation performance and allow construction of more cost- and energy-efficient buildings. Compact polyurethanes can be used as tough automotive coatings, dampening pads, elastomers, shoe soles, sealants, binders or cables.

Significantly reducing CO₂ emissions and the use of fossil resources for our products are key targets for our team, our customers and our entire European society. By providing solutions through our growing sustainability product portfolio, we can ensure that the superior properties of polyurethane will continue to spearhead this vital transition."

Christopher Metz - Vice President Business Management Isocyanates & Precursors

Products

Our product line of polyurethane raw materials consists of Lupranat^® aromatic isocyanates (MDI, MDI derivatives and TDI), Lupranol^® and Lupraphen^® polyols. Our materials are provided through direct sales and through distribution, and are available in bulk shipments (rail cars, tank trucks) as well as IBC and drums.

Markets and Applications

Polyurethane raw materials bring performance, durability and comfort to a myriad of industrial and consumer products. Discover here the many applications that rely on MDI, TDI and polyols.

We drive sustainable solutions for our customers

BASF is driving circular economy by making the most of the limited resources of our planet: we keep them in use for as long as possible, minimize waste, and create value with renewable resources.

Lupranat^® ZERO

Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time. That is why we are committed to the European Green Deal and are striving to reach its target of net-zero emissions by 2050. Additionally, by 2030 BASF aims to reduce CO₂ emissions by 25 percent compared to 2018. The product carbon footprint (PCF) of each BASF product thus plays an important role and creates the necessary transparency in relation to the associated greenhouse gas emissions.

Infographic describing BASF's approach to production. 1. fossil raw materials are 2. mixed with renewable raw materials, 3. already at the beginning of the production network, 4. and assigned to the respective sales products via a certified calculation model. The product comes with a certificate of saving fossil resources and a declaration of reducing greenhouse gas emissions..

The Biomass Balance Approach

Saving valuable resources and reducing CO₂emissions: BASF’s biomass balance approach (BMB) scores on both counts. The concept promotes the use of renewable raw materials in BASF’s Production Verbund and can be applied to most of the products in BASF’s portfolio, including our polyurethane base products, such as BASF isocyanates and polyols. They are marketed as our BMBcert^TM portfolio.

BASF has developed a chemical recycling process for used mattresses and is starting pilot tests at the Schwarzheide site in Brandenburg, Germany.

Chemical Recycling (Depolymerization)

Did you know that around 40 million mattresses end up in landfills and incinerators in Europe every year? At the same time, valuable raw materials are consumed in the production of new flexible foam mattresses. Chemical recycling of mattresses can close the loop for flexible polyurethane foam. And this is how we at BASF Monomers are making a valuable contribution to sustainability.

You can count on it: Quality

At BASF, we understand how important it is that the ingredients you use are of the same high quality, each and every time. Which is why we consistently manufacture our isocyanates and polyols to the same high standards – so that our customers in all industries are guaranteed the required reliability for their processes, whatever the application.

Safe handling – every step of the way

Like many reactive chemicals, isocyanates and polyols can be hazardous if handled improperly. For this reason, we commit significant resources to promoting the responsible use of our products – along the entire supply chain. Our aim is to ensure that each person transporting, storing or processing our isocyanates and polyols is fully aware of the potential dangers and the correct handling.

Our health and safety activities begin in our own factories – where we produce isocyanates and polyols at consistent quality. But our commitment doesn’t stop there. We offer regular training courses, familiarizing customers with the recommended regular and emergency procedures. We supply dedicated material safety data sheets (MSDS) – available from the sales office. And should you require specific advice, your sales contact is on hand to help. Moreover, we are dedicated to pooling our expertise on health and safety with other stakeholders, further enhancing the core structures and processes of the polyurethane industry. We are an active member of multiple industry associations, such as ISOPA, PU Europe, Europur and the IVPU

All employees handling products containing free diisocyanates in concentrations of 0.1 percent and above need to complete a mandatory training until 2023 (see EUR-Lex at the European Union's website). We cooperated with the European Diisocyanate & Polyol Producers Association (ISOPA), the European Aliphatic Isocyanates Producer Association (ALIPA), and several other associations of the polyurethane industry to set up a comprehensive training program for fulfilling the obligations from the restriction. Please find out more on the trainings here.