BASF To Invest $2.9 Billion In Asia

Matt Hopkins Posted by Matt Hopkins|9 October 2009

Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF Corp. plans to invest US$2.9 billion in the Asia/Pacific region between 2009 and 2013, aiming to double the company’s sales in the region by 2020, reports Chemical Week. The company plans to generate 70% of its sales in the region from local production, increasing its number of employees in Asia to 20,000 by 2020. It also aims to reduce its costs in the region by at least an annualized $147 million by 2012 through improving efficiency in its Asia/Pacific operations.

BASF’s planned investment will include a 400,000 metric tonnes per year methylene di-para-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) project at Chongqing, China. BASF expects the plant to be in commercial operation by early 2014.

The Asia/Pacific region accounted for about 38%, or $956 billion, of total global chemicals demand in 2008, excluding pharmaceuticals. BASF expects the region’s share to rise to 46%, or almost $1.5 trillion, in 2020.

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