As the leading global supplier of polyurethane (PU) system solutions worldwide, BASF will further expand its strong global service and production network. With the establishment of a new Polyurethane Solutions System House in West China (with a population of over 120 million), BASF will meet the demand of the growing markets in important industries like Construction, Appliance, Transportation, and Footwear. The new System House will be located in Chongqing, where BASF also plans to build a world scale MDI plant with 400,000 kt/a production .
"With this step BASF is the first global PU player to show a strong commitment to this important and fast growing region", says Jacques Delmoitiez, President BASF Polyurethanes. "The new PU System House will be fully backward integrated into the planned MDI plant - a significant advantage our customers can benefit from", Delmoitiez continues: "And they will benefit from the know-how and experience of BASF employees worldwide. BASF has deep and profound expertise in all important PU industries like Transportation,
Construction, Appliance, and Footwear."
The planned state-of-the-art System House in Chongqing will have local production with sales, technical service and development personnel to provide fast and competent support to its customers. The System House will start its first services by 2012 and will continuously expand its operations and activities for its customers in this region . The new System House will closely work with the two current System Houses and Development Centers in Shanghai and Nansha. Moreover, the customers will benefit from the global BASF R&D and production network, e.g., the central research units in Germany.
"With our System House network globally and world-scale production sites for PU basic products MDI, TDI and polyols, BASF is the leading polyurethane manufacturer serving its customers worldwide from local production sites", states Jacques Delmoitiez. The new investment demonstrates BASF's continued commitment to the PU industry by supporting its customers' growth in all regions of the world as their preferred partner.
"The market for PU systems in Western China will continue to grow significantly", states Melanie Maas-Brunner, Group Vice President for Polyurethanes in Asia Pacific. "This growth is to a large extent driven by PU insulating materials for the construction industry, which will play an important role in saving valuable energy." In addition, BASF expects in this region strongly growing domestic consumption for other PU products in the Transportation, Appliance, and Footwear industries due to increasing disposable incomes.