PALMYRA, MO, September 28, 2009 – BASF announced today the dedication of its new Kixor® herbicide technology production unit at its manufacturing site located near Hannibal, Missouri. Kixor was recently approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Kixor is the new herbicide technology behind a family of products currently being launched in the United States and other countries. These products will help farmers control weeds across a broad range of crops.

“Growers are at the center of the challenge to meet the growing demand for a safe, abundant, and affordable food supply, and BASF is dedicated to providing tools to help them,” said Dr. Stefan Marcinowski, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, who was present for the dedication. “BASF’s commitment to delivering such innovative solutions as Kixor herbicide is reflected by the construction of a sophisticated manufacturing center in Hannibal.”

“The opening of this new production unit reinforces the importance of the Hannibal site both within BASF and the local area,” said Dr. Michael McFarlane, Manager of BASF’s Hannibal site. “This reflects the company's faith in our team's ability to contribute to the mission to support growers and be committed to the communities in which we live and work.”

With approximately 250 full-time personnel, BASF is one of the area’s larger employers.

BASF Crop Protection President Markus Heldt was on hand from corporate headquarters in Germany for ceremonies marking the event. “We are here today to recognize this achievement with the team that will produce these unique herbicides for growers around the world,” Heldt said. “Weeds are still the grower’s number one enemy, bringing losses of around $95 billion a year in lost food production.”

Starting this fall, four Kixor-powered formulations – Sharpen™, OpTill™, Integrity™ and Treevix™ herbicides – will be available to help growers tackle today’s weed control challenges in their respective markets.  Kixor is labeled for use on a wide range of crops, including corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, cereals, cotton, pulses, sunflower (desiccation), citrus, pome fruit and nut trees – and for fallow and post-harvest use.

About the Crop Protection division

With sales of € 3.4 billion in 2008, BASF’s Crop Protection division is a leader in crop protection and a strong partner to the farming industry providing well-established and innovative fungicides, insecticides and herbicides. Farmers use these products and services to improve crop yields and crop quality. Other uses include public health, structural/urban pest control, turf and ornamental plants, vegetation management, and forestry. BASF aims to turn knowledge rapidly into market success. The vision of BASF’s Crop Protection division is to be the world’s leading innovator, optimizing agricultural production, improving nutrition, and thus enhancing the quality of life for a growing world population. Further information can be found on the web at http://agproducts.basf.us.    

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BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 15,000 employees in North America, and had sales of approximately $17.5 billion in 2008. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, or to sign up to receive news releases by e-mail, visit www.basf.com/usa.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals, as well as oil and gas. As a reliable partner, BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges, such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF has approximately 97,000 employees and posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

Always read and follow label directions.
Kixor is a registered trademark of BASF SE. Integrity, Optill, Sharpen, and Treevix are trademarks of BASF.
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