Producer
BASF Catalysts (Refining Division)
BASF Refinery Catalysts division; ~30% US FCC catalyst market share with primary North American production at Pasadena, TX (Houston Ship Channel). Developed Phinesse™ phosphorus-modified Y-zeolite catalyst as non-rare-earth alternative; Shell Sarnia (Canada) deployed Phinesse as lanthanum substitute. Global FCC production footprint across multiple regions. Acquired Englehard Corporation (2006) to build catalyst leadership. Part of BASF SE (Germany) — same company as BASF Electronic Materials (semiconductor chemicals).
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Where they make it
2 facilities
BASF Catalysts Division HQ & R&D — Iselin, NJ →
USNew Jersey · headquarters
BASF Refining Solutions global HQ; catalyst R&D center; coordinates US FCC catalyst product development.
BASF FCC Catalyst Manufacturing — Pasadena, TX →
USTexas · manufacturing
BASF Pasadena, TX facility on the Houston Ship Channel; primary North American FCC catalyst production site. Acquired January 2004. Also produces Phinesse™ phosphorus-modified Y-zeolite catalyst — a non-rare-earth FCC catalyst alternative. Source: https://catalysts.basf.com/industries/refinery-catalysts
What else they do
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FCC Catalysts (Fluid Catalytic Cracking)
40%Hydrotreating & Hydroprocessing Catalysts
25%Automotive Emission Control Catalysts
20%BASF SE Parent — Battery Materials + Electronic Chemicals
15%
Intelligence
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Did you know2023
BASF SE — the world's largest chemical company — supplies catalysts for both sides of the fossil fuel to electric vehicle transition simultaneously. BASF Catalysts' FCC catalysts enable oil refineries to convert crude oil into the gasoline that powers internal combustion engines. BASF TODA Battery Materials (a BASF division in Schwarzheide, Germany and Japan) produces NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) cathode active materials for the lithium-ion batteries powering EVs that are replacing those internal combustion engines. BASF Electronic Materials makes the photoresists and CMP chemicals for the semiconductor chips controlling EV powertrains. The same Ludwigshafen, Germany corporate parent enables gasoline production, EV battery manufacturing, and the semiconductor chips in EVs — a single chemical company is simultaneously an input supplier for every stage of the energy transition it is supposedly facilitating.
BASF SE ↗Capacity2023
BASF developed Phinesse™ — a phosphorus-modified Y-zeolite FCC catalyst — as a response to lanthanum price spikes in 2011-2012 when China restricted rare earth exports. Lanthanum is used in standard FCC catalysts to stabilize the zeolite structure at high temperatures; China's export restrictions quadrupled lanthanum prices in months. BASF's rapid development and commercialization of a non-rare-earth alternative demonstrated that petroleum refining — a supply chain often assumed to be immune to rare earth criticality — is actually exposed to the same Chinese rare earth export leverage that affects semiconductor and clean energy supply chains. FCC catalysts are consumed continuously at refineries (10,000+ MT/year at large refineries); if lanthanum supply is cut, refinery throughput and gasoline supply is directly affected. A petrochemical supply chain and a geopolitical rare earth policy are more coupled than most energy analysts acknowledge.
BASF SE ↗Origin2023
BASF's refinery catalyst business traces to the 2006 acquisition of Engelhard Corporation (Edison, New Jersey) for $4.9B — one of the largest chemical industry acquisitions of the 2000s. Engelhard had been a leading supplier of automotive emission control catalysts and petroleum refining catalysts since the early 20th century. The Engelhard acquisition made BASF Catalysts a global leader in both refinery processing catalysts (FCC, hydrotreating) and automotive emission control catalysts. BASF SE (the German parent) is the world's largest chemical company by revenue (~€87B in 2024), with businesses spanning chemicals, plastics, agricultural solutions, nutrition, and functional materials. BASF Catalysts is a division within this conglomerate where the legacy petroleum refining chemistry business operates alongside battery materials and electronic materials for the clean energy transition.
BASF SE ↗