BASF has begun offering its first commercial volumes of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) produced from renewable raw material produced with dextrose-based fermentation technology licensed from U.S. bioplastics producer Genomatica. It said the quality of renewable BDO is comparable to petrochemical products based on natural gas, butane, butadiene and propylene.

The German chemical giant currently produces BDO and equivalents at its sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany and Geismar, Louisiana, USA, as well as Chiba, Japan, Kuantan, Malaysia and Caojing, China. In July of this year, BASF announced plans to lift global capacity for BDO to 650,000 t/y and for PolyTHF to 350,000 t/y over the next two years.

BDO and derivatives go into plastics, solvents, electronic chemicals and elastic fibre for the packaging, automotive, textile, and sports and leisure industries.