BASF launches material production unit in Zhanjiang

Germany-based chemicals maker BASF announced the launch of a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) facility on Thursday, its second plant to come on stream at the 10-billion-euro ($10.9 billion) Verbund site being built in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province.

The new plant will better enable BASF to meet growing demand in the Asia-Pacific, especially in the industrial, e-mobility and new energy sectors, said Martin Jung, president, performance materials, BASF, at a ceremony in Zhanjiang on Thursday.

The TPU market in the Asia-Pacific is expected to grow by an average 7.4 percent annually by 2030, he said, citing a sectoral research report.

The new plant has BASF's largest single TPU production line globally.

TPU products can be extruded into hoses, cable sheathings, conveyor belts, films and profiles, and can also be processed using calendering, blow molding and injection molding technologies.

It is widely used in industries including automotive, footwear, agriculture, sports and leisure, healthcare, and industrial manufacturing.

The Zhanjiang site, involving BASF's largest investment and wholly owned by the group, will ultimately become the group's third-largest site worldwide, following Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.

BASF launched the first plant at the Zhanjiang site in 2022, which has the capacity to produce 60,000 metric tons of engineering plastic compounds per year to mainly serve the automotive industry.

The Zhanjiang site will include a steam cracker with an annual capacity of 1 million tons of ethylene, which is targeted to start up late next year, said Haryono Lim, president, mega projects, Asia, BASF.

An expansion phase covering further downstream plants is expected to be operational by 2028.

Construction at the site has been on track, time and cost-wise, despite the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lim said, adding the products there will primarily serve the Chinese market.

The two plants already launched at the site are powered by renewable energy, and so will the steam cracker, with new technologies. The Zhanjiang site will be built into a role model for smart manufacturing and sustainable production, Lim said.

BASF formed last year a joint venture with Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Mingyang Smart Energy Group, which is based in Zhongshan, Guangdong, to jointly construct and operate an offshore wind farm in Zhanjiang.

BASF was the second-largest renewable power buyer in China in 2022, said Jeffrey Lou, president and chairman of BASF Greater China.

As the largest chemical market in the world, China plays a vital and strategic role for BASF.

The group is optimistic about the Chinese market over the long run as the country strives for high-quality development and its sustainability mission will create immense opportunities, Lou said.

According to BASF, the company currently operates six other Verbund sites worldwide, including one in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. The Chinese market is now BASF's second-largest market after the United States.

liwenfang@chinadaily.com.cn