21 May 2019
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DETAILS
◼ First plants at integrated Verbund site
will contribute to global capacity
for engineering plastics and TPU
◼ BASF’s US$10 billion investment project
in Zhanjiang is moving forward swiftly
◼ Advanced performance materials help electronics,
consumer products and automotive manufacturers
reduce weight, improve safety and efficiency
BASF plans to build
an engineering plastics compounding plant
and a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) plant
at the company’s proposed
integrated chemical production (“Verbund”) site
in Zhanjiang, China.
These will be the first production plants
to come onstream at the site.
By 2022, the new engineering plastics
compounding plant
will supply an additional capacity
of 60,000 metric tons per year
of BASF engineering plastics compounds in China.
This will bring the total BASF capacity
of these products in Asia Pacific
to 290,000 metric tons per year.
As part of the company’s plan to implement
a comprehensive smart manufacturing concept
at the Verbund site based
on cutting-edge technologies,
the new plants will utilize
automated packaging,
high-tech control systems,
and automated guided vehicles.
General facilities for the Zhanjiang Verbund site
will also be built along with
the two new plants.
BASF Integrated Site (Guangdong) Co. Ltd (BIG),
BASF’s new wholly-owned subsidiary,
has been officially founded.
This entity will oversee the operations
of the new Verbund site,
underlining BASF’s commitment
to the southern China market.
The growth of the TPU market, in particular
for high-end applications, is driven by several factors
including increasing regulatory requirements
and growing customer expectations
for enhanced sustainability performance
e-mobility, lightweight and automation.
BASF solutions support this growth
with safety-enhanced cables and wires
for automation and automotive,
as well as lightweight materials for consumer goods.
With customer needs evolving rapidly across the world,
BASF is ramping up its investment
in emerging markets to address local requirements
while continuing to invest in developed economies.
BASF signed the first Memorandum of Understanding
for the Verbund site with
the Guangdong Provincial Government
in Berlin in July 2018, and in January 2019
the company signed a Framework Agreement
setting out further details of the plan.
The Verbund site in Guangdong would be
BASF’s largest investment,
estimated up to US$10 billion upon completion,
and would be operated under
the sole responsibility of BASF.
The integrated value chain will connect
upstream and downstream plants
from basic chemicals to
more consumer-oriented products and solutions,
serving growth sectors like
consumer goods or transportation.
The site would ultimately be
the third-largest BASF site worldwide, following
Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.
******************************************
Dr. Stephan Kothrade,
President Functions Asia Pacific,
President and Chairman Greater China, BASF
“Less than a year after we signed the first MoU,
we are delighted to announce
the first plants to be established
at our smart Verbund site in Zhanjiang,”
“The project is moving forward swiftly and customers
in southern China will soon benefit
from these innovative products
to meet their immediate needs.”
******************************************
Raimar Jahn,
President of BASF’s Performance Materials division
“We want to improve our support for customers
in the southern China market and around the world.
We will do this by establishing the new plants
close to growing customer industries,
and through improvements
in efficiency realized from
our smart manufacturing approach.
This will increase our speed of innovation
and the efficiency of our services,”
“In particular, electric and electronics companies
and automotive manufacturers
are turning to BASF to help them address
trends such as
the electrification of cars and
miniaturization of electronic devices.”
67056 Ludwigshafen,
Germany
presse.kontakt@basf.com
Media Relations
Christian Zeintl
Phone: +49 621 60-71233
christian.zeintl@basf.com
Trade media
Mia Son
Phone: +32 2 373 2124
mia.son@basf.com
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