BASF Breaks Ground In China For Two New Manufacturing Plants

BASF broke ground for two new plants in Pudong, near Shanghai in China, which will manufacture polyacrylate polymers and specialty chemicals for leather tanning. The plants will provide customers in the growing Chinese market with a reliable supply of high-quality chemicals. The two facilities are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2008. Investment details were not disclosed.

The polyacrylate polymers plant will have a minimum capacity of 30,000 metric tons per year, while the plant for specialty chemicals for leather tanning will have a minimum annual capacity of 12,000 metric tons of products in liquid or powder form. A spray dryer with a capacity of 10,000 metric tons per year is part of the investment. The new plants will be located next to BASF’s existing facilities for polyacrylate polymers and leather chemicals in Pudong.

The polyacrylate polymers marketed under the trademark Sokalan® are synthetic water-soluble polymers used in the laundry, paper, water treatment and textile industries. The specialty chemicals for leather tanning carry the trademarks Basyntan®, Relugan® and Tamol®.

BASF today (March 20, 2007) also inaugurated its polyisocyanate plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park in Caojing, which will serve the entire Asia Pacific market. The plant has an annual capacity of 8,000 metric tons and its product is marketed under the trademark Basonat®. Construction work began in June 2005. Polyisocyanates are raw materials used in the manufacture of automotive, industrial and wood paints.

"Our investments in performance chemicals products at Caojing and Pudong will further strengthen our close partnership with our customers especially in Asia Pacific,” said Patrick Prévost, President of BASF’s Performance Chemicals division. “By investing in additional local production capacity we will be able to react more flexibly to fast changing market conditions and to supply our customers more reliably with short lead time.”

“The chemical market in Asia Pacific is the world’s largest and is expected to grow 4 to 4.5 percent annually through 2015. Our new manufacturing facilities in Shanghai give us an excellent competitive edge to participate in the rapid growth of the chemical industry in the region,” said Dr. Wolfgang Hapke, President of Market and Business Development, BASF Asia Pacific. “We are now moving even closer to our goal of achieving 20 percent of group sales in the chemicals businesses in Asia Pacific by 2010, with 70 percent coming from local production.”