BASF has signed an agreement to sell its extruded polystyrene (XPS) Styrodur business to Karl Bachl Kunststoffverarbeitung, a fellow German company, as part of its strategy to focus on expandable polystyrene (EPS). 
The approximately 50 employees involved in production, marketing, and sales will remain with BASF.

Bachl, one of Germany's leading producers of insulation and construction materials, has extensive experience in XPS and a long-standing partnership with BASF for Styrodur distribution.
Headquartered in Deching, Bavaria, Bachl employs 2,600 people and operates manufacturing facilities in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Croatia.

"With the sale of the Styrodur business, BASF is consistently focusing its strategy on expandable polystyrene with our well-known brands Neopor and Styropor," said Klaus Ries, head of Styrenics Europe at BASF. "Already in October 2024, BASF underscored its ambition to continue growing in the European expandable polystyrene (EPS) market with the announcement of an expansion of Neopor production capacity in Ludwigshafen by 50,000 tons to 250,000 tons per year starting in early 2027."

The transaction, which includes the Styrodur brand, is expected to close by mid-2025. The parties have agreed to keep financial details confidential.

Styrodur, an extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation material, has been produced by BASF since 1964. In 2017, BASF consolidated production at its Ludwigshafen site, ceasing activities in Schwarzheide. A sheet production facility in Italy remained active until 2016, when it was sold to Italy-based FI-VE.

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