Plastics and chemicals supplier BASF (Ludwigshafen) has acquired the Lustran SAN (styrene acrylonitrile) business in Europe and South America from fellow supplier Lanxess (Leverkusen, both Germany). The price was not released. Lanxess sells about 14,000 tonnes/yr of SAN in the two regions. The acquisition includes customer lists, licenses for patents and intellectual property, and SAN in stock. Lanxess continues to supply SAN to processors in North America and Asia.

SAN is inherently transparent and offers high heat resistance and good gloss and chemical resistance, helping it see use in applications such as housewares, appliances, and some automotive parts. However, the largest application for SAN is as a component in the manufacture of other ABS materials. SAN can be processed using all standard processes.

Lanxess will transition its SAN production capacity to producing acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) specialties, as per its strategic plan announced last June with regards to its styrenics business. The supplier will concentrate and expand ABS capacity from its site in Tarragona, Spain. The European Styrenics management team and marketing department will also relocate from Leverkusen to Tarragona.