MOSCOW (MRC) -- Michael Heinz takes over as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, said the company.
Heinz will lead all activities of the North American affiliate of Germany-based BASF SE, one of the leading chemical companies worldwide.
"I am eager to take over responsibility for one of BASF’s major markets and to further develop our strong presence in the North American region,” said Heinz. “Given my experience with BASF in the United States, I am honored by this appointment as it allows me to lead an outstanding team and, at the same time, return to a country that feels like a second home to me."
Heinz has been with BASF for almost four decades and during that time, has spent more than 10 years in various leadership positions in the United States. Earlier in his career, he oversaw BASF’s activities in Ecuador and Mexico, led the global Crop Protection division and was responsible for the integration of two major company acquisitions, Ciba AG and Cognis GmbH. Heinz has been a Member of BASF SE’s Board of Executive Directors since 2011 and will continue serving in this role in addition to leading the company’s North American activities. As part of his Board duties, Heinz is also responsible for BASF’s global Chemicals and Materials business segments as well as the South America region.
Heinz succeeds Wayne T. Smith, who led BASF Corporation for six years. Smith has shaped the company’s business success in the North America region with a strong focus on customers, Diversity & Inclusion and asset reliability.
As MRC informed earlier, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels. The project envisions an additional offshore wind farm with a capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) to provide the Ludwigshafen chemical site with green electricity and enable CO2-free production of hydrogen.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia"s estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has approximately 17,000 employees in North America and had sales of USD18.7 billion in 2020.
MRC