Commercial production is by alkylation of benzene starting from n-paraffins feedstock.
Condea Vista is owned by RWE-DEA AG fuer Mineraloel und Chemie. The German company's Condea Group, which includes Condea Vista and Condea Augusta, has global LAB capacity of 460,000 metric tons. Cond ea Augusta plans a 100,000-ton LAB facility at Augusta in Sicily. The new plant will not result in a net increase in LAB capacity, but the company has not decided where it will rationalize its production. Despite significant market share losses to alcohol sulfates in the 1990s, LAS remains a strong contender among anionic surfactants and a workhorse in the marketplace on a cost basis.