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MOSCOW (MRC) -- On
17 December, BASF opened its ASEAN Technical Development Center
adjacent to its existing polyurethane (PU) System House at Bangpoo site in
Thailand, as per the company's press release.
The new facility houses a
state-of-the-art pre-polymer reactor technology to produce a hardener (component
B) - a key component to boost product development efficiency, thereby
enabling faster time-to-market of PU materials and solutions.
The
advanced reactor technology is further designed to deliver on a much larger
capacity, meeting most demanding customer requirements across all grades. The
new pre-polymer reactor technology is additionally capable of developing
customized PU System products, which helps improve the commercialization of
these specialized solutions.
The ASEAN Technical Development Center also
boasts several new service upgrades, such as more advanced testing and software
capabilities. With the new pre-polymer reactor technology, the ASEAN Technical
Center strengthens and complements BASF’s technical support network in China,
Korea, and Germany.
“Through the ASEAN Technical Development Center, we
are better positioned to support our customers and help them capitalize on
growth opportunities in ASEAN across key industries and applications,” said Andy
Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF.
“Together with the expanded polyurethane system house, we are demonstrating our
commitment to ASEAN, with even more reliable supply, as well as technical
expertise and innovation capabilities.”
BASF previously increased
the production capacity of its polyurethane system house in Bangpoo as part of a
move to better meet the growing demand across automotive, consumer,
construction, and industrial markets in ASEAN. With a total production area of
2,700 m2, the redesigned system house includes additional mixing vessels,
reactors, and storage tanks.
The ASEAN car market by production volume
continues to grow with differentiated products and emerging applications.
Thailand and Indonesia are among the largest automotive industries in Southeast
Asia, while Vietnam is already one of the world’s largest footwear exporters,
and its industry is expected to grow as more manufacturers are relocating their
manufacturing base there.
As MRC reported before,
German chemicals maker BASF said in early November it had put a project to build
a petrochemicals complex in India worth up to USD4 billion on hold due to the
economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. BASF signed a memorandum
of understanding with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Adani Group and
Borealis AG in October 2019 to evaluate a collaboration to build the chemical
site in Mundra, in India’s Gujarat state.
Ethylene and propylene are
feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene
(PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report,
PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and
reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the
greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia
increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months
of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase
in imports.
BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide
range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues,
electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic
chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical,
construction, textile and automotive industries. |
