VIDALIA — BASF cut the ribbon Tuesday on the $20 million expansion of its facility in Vidalia.

The investment created 10 new jobs.

But the expansion also helped the company expand its product lines from the Vidalia facility from two offerings to four, all of which are based on aluminua trihydrate, Vice President of Research and Development Dana Mooney said.

The two new product lines will be used by manufacturers of hydrogen peroxide and by companies looking to capture sulfur byproducts in a safe, liquid form rather than releasing them into the atmosphere, Mooney said.

The two product lines the company already produced in Vidalia will continue to be manufactured there.

One of the products is used to dry air in manufacturing environments, while the other is used to remove impurities in the manufacture of plastics.

“BASF is excited about the completion of this project and our continued growth and commitment in Louisiana,” BASF Vidalia Site Manager Mark Wolverton said. “We appreciate the support of local and state leaders who continue to play key roles in helping our industry expand in this region, resulting in a stronger economy and community.”

The expansion created a significant number of construction jobs, and Wolverton said at the apex of the work approximately 150 construction workers were on site.

Concordia Parish Industrial and Economic Development District Director Heather Malone said the opening of the expansion not only highlighted BASF’s continued effort at good corporate citizenship, but the area’s ability to compete in the industrial marketplace.

Malone said the ability to compete came in part because of local and state leadership has made a good business climate a priority.

“We should be very excited that we were analyzed and compared against other communities and were chosen for this, because of our workforce and because of our business climate,” she said. “We are very fortunate.”

BASF started operations in Vidalia in 1983. The company has 58 employees at the location with an annual payroll of $5.1 million.

The company has two other locations in Louisiana, in Zachary and Geismar.