BASF invests in new Ultramid plant in China

Aiming to move production closer to Asian customers, BASF is building a new 100,000 tonne Ultramid plant in Shanghai, China.

BASF declined to say how much it is investing in the site but says it chose to build the plant in China because of its importance as an international technology hub, as well as the number of consumers in the country.

“It [is becoming] more and more important to supply customers from a local source,” said the spokesperson.

He quoted statics from PCI which show that average polyamide growth is currently 3% in Asia and 6% in China.

“The expected sales growth rate in Asia is 13% per year from 2010 to 2020,” he said. “From a world-wide perspective, Asia will be the main growth driver together with smaller emerging markets like South America and eastern Europe.”

The company is hoping to grow two percentage points above the general market and will supply the engineering plastics, fibre and film industries.

The plant, which will begin production in 2015, will be based at the Shanghai Chemical Industry park in Caojing, which is partly owned by BASF.

The company already produces pelytetrahydrofuran and polyisocyanate at the site.