BASF flipped the switch Wednesday on a $1 billion expansion at its Geismar, Louisiana chemical complex, a project the company says nearly doubles its annual output of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, or MDI, to roughly 600,000 metric tons. The milestone caps an eight-year buildout and, according to BASF, makes the German chemical giant the largest MDI producer in North America.
A Years-Long Build Finally Pays Off
BASF inaugurated the expanded MDI production facility on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at its Verbund site in Geismar, according to Chemical Processing. The company calls it its largest wholly owned investment project to date in North America, with a total volume of approximately $1 billion, per a statement posted on BASF's own event page. The project began back in 2018 and moved through three distinct phases, the trade outlet notes.
A new MDI synthesis unit came online in 2020, and BASF followed that up by expanding several upstream production units in 2021, the same report states. The final phase added new upstream units and a splitter, incorporating advanced technology, digitalization and high safety standards, according to IndexBox. BASF says the added capabilities are intended to increase production flexibility and support supply reliability across North America.
What MDI Expansion Means for the Site and Its Customers
MDI is a primary raw material for polyurethane production, used in rigid and flexible foams found in building insulation, appliances, automotive components and furniture, the same trade report explains. BASF's investment aims to give customers a reliable, competitive and locally integrated supply source, and company leaders say the new facility strengthens BASF's core businesses by bringing more production closer to customers.
Alongside the MDI unit, BASF also increased aniline production capacity at Geismar, strengthening the site's integrated production chain and adding material for other North American markets including rubber chemicals, agricultural chemicals, dyes and pigments. Geismar is described as BASF's largest Verbund site in the United States, benefiting from integrated infrastructure, raw material supply and operational synergies.
Company Leaders Frame the Investment as a Bet on the U.S. Market
Markus Kamieth, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF SE, described the United States as a long-standing key market for the company and said the investment reflects BASF's commitment to customers and its future in the country. Ramkumar Dhruva, president of BASF's Monomer division, said the investment reflects confidence in continued growth of the polyurethane market, according to IndexBox's reporting. A BASF team delivered the complex project on schedule, the company said in its press materials.
Industry Backdrop and What's Expected to Use Incentives
The expansion arrives amid relatively flat demand growth for the material it feeds into. North American polyurethane production reached 9.18 billion pounds in 2025, representing a compound annual growth rate of just 0.2% from 2023 through 2025, per Chemical Processing's citation of the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry. Even so, BASF and rivals are expanding MDI capacity globally: Covestro has announced plans for a 660,000-metric-ton-per-year MDI production train in Shanghai and is evaluating a second facility of similar scale in the United Arab Emirates, while BASF itself is evaluating a potential MDI complex at its Dahej site in Gujarat, India, after securing industrial land and advancing a feasibility study, the same outlet reports.
A notice from Louisiana Economic Development said BASF was expected to utilize the state's Industrial Tax Exemption and Quality Jobs programs for the Geismar investment. Whether BASF ultimately received or used either incentive, and on what terms, isn't established in the available record.
BASF's Broader North American and Global Footprint
BASF Corporation, the North American affiliate of BASF SE of Ludwigshafen, Germany, is headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, and operates more than 150 locations across 40 states. The North American arm reported more than 13,300 employees and $18.1 billion in sales for 2025, with approximately 90% of BASF's 2025 North American sales coming from products manufactured in the United States, totaling €13.1 billion. Globally, BASF Group employs around 95,000 people and generated sales of around €60 billion in 2025, according to the company's reported figures for the year.
