BASF Corporation has signed a long-term supply agreement with Lynas Corporation, a fully integrated provider of Rare Earth materials. Lynas will supply BASF with a pre-determined annual volume of lanthanum, which is key raw material used in the production of BASF’s fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) refinery catalysts and certain chemical catalyst products.

These volumes will be supplied from Lynas’ Rare Earth separation plant in Kuantan, Malaysia, which is expected to come on line during the fourth quarter of 2011 with 11,000 metric tons of total annual production capacity and subsequently expand to 22,000 metric tons of annual production capacity in 2012. Additional contract details are confidential.

• BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany
• Lynas Corporation, Sydney, Australia