BASF announced on 16 July 2026 that its new specialty emollient plant in Düsseldorf had entered operation after two years of construction. The plant serves European and global cosmetics markets, with a focus on skin and sun care. BASF describes it as the site's largest investment in ten years.
Additional supply for specialty emollient applications
The company places the investment in the tens of millions of euros and says the specialty emollients are based on renewable raw materials. The expansion has a defined application focus: adding production capability for specialty ingredients used in skin and sun care formulations.
Formulation background on emollient spreading
BASF's 2019 technical information for pharmaceutical topical formulations provides background on emollient spreading. Faster-spreading materials can deliver an immediate smooth feel that fades relatively quickly. Slower-spreading materials can give a subtler but more persistent sensation.
This distinction separates sensory evaluation into initial application and the sensation that follows. A target combining easy spreading with a more persistent smooth feel calls for comparing how an emollient mixture performs at both stages. Describing a material as fast-spreading alone leaves its role over the full application period unresolved.
Specific grades connect capacity with formulation
BASF's Emollient Maestro service combines physicochemical and sensory profiles with selected benchmarks to model emollient mixtures. Polarity matching is among its stated selection criteria. The service provides further background on how particular materials contribute to a formulation.
Specific grades connect the additional capacity with formulation needs. Once a grade is identified, formulators can relate its physicochemical and sensory profile to the initial application feel and lasting sensation required by a project. For established skin and sun care formulations, the next useful supply information is which grades the new plant covers and what those materials contribute within a mixture.
