BASF launches engineering expansion projects in Shanghai

BASF technical experts test the noise level of Cellasto components at the expanded technical center in Shanghai. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

BASF, the world's leading chemical company, initiated its three key capacity expansion projects for performance materials at the Pudong site in Shanghai on Thursday.

"This is a firm with part of its strategy to expand business in the Chinese market," said Albert Heuser, chairman and president of BASF China.

The three projects aim to produce more engineering plastics and materials for the transportation, construction, high speed railway, textile, footwear and automobiles industries.

He said the Chinese market is big with great potential, which generated $71.1 billion worth of chemicals in 2013, accounting for 60 percent of the whole Asian market.

BASF estimates that the Asia-Pacific market for engineering plastics will grow on average by about 7 percent per year. This growth is driven by the increasing use of engineering plastics in various segments, including transportation, construction, high-speed railway, and the electrical and electronics industries.

Its capacity for Ultramid and Ultradur, two materials used in automotive parts and innovative applications, will double from the 45,000 tons currently to more than 100,000 tons per year, making it BASF's biggest engineering plastics compounding facility in Asia Pacific, said Raimar Jahn, president of BASF Performance Materials.

"The expansion, which is operational more than six months ahead of schedule, also includes a compounding line for specialty grades that enables BASF to tap the burgeoning market potential for specialty applications," Jahn said.

With this project and the new compounding plant in Yesan, Korea, which is expected to begin operations at end of 2015, BASF's overall compounding capacities in Asia will increase from the current 130,000 tons to a total of 225,000 tons, he said.

Heuser said a significant increase in capacity of Elastolan TPU, the second expansion project BASF has completed to produce a versatile material that offers the highest innovation potential, will surely reinforce its position in the region.

"The expansion of capacity for TPU in China will support growth of the rapidly growing market for textile, footwear, wire and cable sheathing and other industrial applications," he said.

BASF has also enhanced the capacity of the existing facility at BASF Pudong Cellasto site, strengthening its technical leadership of Cellasto in Asia Pacific, a customized solution for damping and reduction of the noise, vibration and harshness level of vehicles, said Wolfgang Micklitz, vice president of BASF Global Business Management Cellasto.

"Our purpose is to better serve the dynamic Asian automotive market," said Micklitz.

More than 42 million cars were sold in Asia Pacific and over 20 million in China in 2013. The number is expected to increase to 33 million in China and 62 million in Asia Pacific by 2020, according to the LMC Automotive Ltd 2013 Report.

BASF currently produces Cellasto at six sites worldwide, including Lemforde in Germany, Shanghai and Nansha in China, Guaratingueta in Bazil, Shinshiro in Japan and Wyandotte in the United States.

"The new technical and production facility of Cellasto in Shanghai marks another milestone of BASF as a leading supplier of automotive suspension parts in Asia and will help its customers perform more successfully in the local competitive business environment," he said.