BASFY Launches New World-Scale Plant in France for HMD Production

BASF SE BASFY successfully began its operations at the new world-scale hexamethylenediamine (HMD) plant in Chalampe, France. The company began its construction in 2022, aiming to increase BASF’s annual HMD production capacity to 260,000 metric tons.

This facility is a key component of BASF’s expansion of its polyamide (PA) 6.6 business in Europe. BASFY is in the final stage of expanding its PA 6.6 production in Freiburg, Germany.

The investment takes BASF a step forward toward its objective of being the lead supplier for HMD with adequate resources to supply customers with high-quality products. The expanded PA 6.6 polymerization capacity further positions the company well to meet this objective.

HMD, being the precursor to the high-quality production of PA 6.6 polymers and coatings raw materials, has ideally set up its plant in an economic and industrial platform in the Alsace region of France to directly integrate it into the main raw material, adiponitrile. The plant has been installed with a state-of-the-art research and development laboratory as well as corresponding infrastructure to facilitate PA 6.6 research.

BASFY stock has gained 4% over the past year compared with the industry’s 22.4% decline.

BASFY’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

BASFY currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Akzo Nobel N.V. AKZOY, Newmont Corporation NEM and Balchem Corporation BCPC. While AKZOY currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), NEM and BCPC carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Akzo Nobel’s current-year earnings is pegged at $1.66 per share, implying an 18.6% year-over-year increase. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing once.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NEM’s current-year earnings is pegged at $4.18 per share, indicating a 20.1% year-over-year rise.Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, with an average surprise of 32.41%. NEM’s shares have gained 43.1% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCPC’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $5.15 per share, indicating a rise of 31% from year-ago levels. The company’s earnings beat the consensus estimate in two of the trailing four quarters while missing the rest. Its shares have gained 5% in the past year.

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