BASF Sells Mining Solutions Business and Doubles Louisiana MDI Capacity to 600,000 Tonnes
Key Facts
On November 12, 2026, BASF announced it had signed an agreement to sell its Mining Solutions business to France's SNF, alongside the opening of a new MDI production facility in Geismar, Louisiana, backed by an investment of nearly $1 billion. The company said the mining deal is expected to close in 2027, subject to competition authority approvals and customary closing conditions. The parties did not disclose the financial terms. The previous day, BASF said the Geismar expansion had almost doubled the site's annual capacity to around 600,000 metric tonnes. Together, the moves show the company reshaping its portfolio while exiting mining and expanding chemical production in North America.
The mining deal includes the business's global operations and its production site in Cork, Ireland, around 140 employees, and a chemicals portfolio that includes extraction, filtration and flotation reagents. BASF said the divestment followed a comprehensive strategic review within its Performance Chemicals division. After the deal closes, SNF intends to continue supplying and servicing customers in global mining markets. BASF describes the buyer as a privately owned specialty chemicals company based in France. According to BASF, SNF employs around 9,400 people worldwide and generates annual revenue of around 5 billion euros.
BASF opened the new MDI facility in Geismar on November 11, saying the project was completed on schedule and represented its largest wholly owned investment in North America. The announced total investment was around $1 billion. The company said the expansion raised annual MDI capacity at the site to around 600,000 metric tonnes, almost doubling it. BASF said the facility makes it the largest MDI producer in North America and strengthens integrated local supply for customers. The figure represents the site's capacity after the expansion, not the new facility's output alone.
BASF says the additional capacity will support customer growth in construction, appliances, transportation, automotive, footwear and furniture. MDI is a feedstock for polyurethane production, according to the company, linking the expansion to a range of industrial and consumer applications. The work also included increasing aniline capacity in Geismar to strengthen the site's value-chain integration. BASF said the increase would enable additional supply for customers in rubber, agrochemicals and dyes. Chief Executive Markus Kamieth described the facility as bringing production closer to customers and strengthening the company's core business and innovation.
The expansion project began in 2018 and was carried out in three phases, according to BASF. An MDI manufacturing unit was commissioned in 2020, followed by the expansion of several precursor units in 2021, before the final phase was completed. In 2022, the company had announced that investment in the final phase, from 2022 to 2025, would be $780 million, and set a target of raising capacity to 600,000 metric tonnes annually by the middle of the decade. At the facility's opening in 2026, BASF described total investment in the completed project as nearly $1 billion. When announcing the final phase, the company said the investment would strengthen supply reliability and customer competitiveness in the region.
The moves follow BASF's raising the lower end of its 2026 outlook for earnings before special items to a range of 7.4–7.8 billion euros, from a previous forecast of 6.9–7.7 billion euros. The company said performance in its core businesses since the start of the year had given it the confidence to raise the lower end of the range. In its third-quarter results statement, BASF attributed higher sales mainly to price increases in chemicals, materials, surface technologies and industrial solutions. It also said volume growth in chemicals, nutrition and care partially offset a decline in volumes in agricultural solutions. BASFY shares closed at $14.97 on November 13, 2026, according to EL7 data.
BASF is scheduled to publish its report for fiscal 2026 on February 26, 2027. The Mining Solutions deal is still expected to close during 2027, subject to competition authority approvals and customary closing conditions. SNF said it intends to ensure continuity of supply and service for global mining customers after the deal closes. This means the business will not transfer upon signing alone, but remains subject to regulatory and contractual conditions. The annual report is due after the expected closing of the deal during the same year.