German chemical company BASF is building a new plastic additives plant at its Caojing site in Shanghai, China.
The development is a part of the company's €200m global investment plan to boost its plastic additives business.
With an annual capacity of 42,000 tons, the new plant will be equipped to produce antioxidants and associated forms and blends.
BASF said that antioxidants will help prevent thermal oxidation reactions when plastics are processed at high temperatures. It will also prevent light-assisted oxidation when plastics are exposed to UV light.
Scheduled to be commissioned by early 2020, the plant will be built in compliance with high environmental standards and will have one of the most efficient production processes.
BASF Performance Chemicals unit in Asia Pacific senior vice-president Hermann Althoff said: “Asia, and particularly the Chinese market, offer significant growth opportunities, driven by diverse applications including packaging, construction, consumer goods, automotive and many more.
“Located within the Caojing complex, it will also benefit from its proximity to our regional application center in Shanghai that provides technical support to polymer producers and to the converting industry within the region.”
BASF is said to be the only supplier of plastic additives. It has production sites in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
In February, BASF said it will present its products and innovations from its packaging portfolio at the upcoming Interpack 2017 event scheduled to be held from 4-10 May in Germany.
