BASF is investing approximately €90 million to set up a world-scale production plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Shanghai, China. The new plant will produce high performance resins and electrocoat (e-coat). The start-up of the production line is planned for the second half of 2015. The plant will help to address the increasing demand for high quality coatings solutions in growing industries, notably the automotive industry, in Asia Pacific.
"The continued investment in our infrastructure and capacity demonstrates our strong commitment to supporting our customers' growing business in the automotive market in Asia Pacific, particularly in China," said Peter Fischer, Senior Vice President, Coatings Solutions Asia Pacific. "With the new plant in place, we will respond to customers even quicker and further enhance our efficiency of logistics and supply of advanced coatings products."
This new resin and e-coat plant will be located adjacent to another new BASF automotive coatings plant which broke ground in early 2013. The close proximity of these two plants will allow for more synergies and efficiency.
Resin is a key intermediate used in the production of various types of coatings. The new facility will supply resins with the latest technology to support the company's expanding coatings production and growth plans.
Applying the latest technologies, BASF's new plant will also supply CathoGuard 800, an e-coat that is ideally suited for the new standard of integrated coatings application processes and contains less than one percent solvents. E-coat is a critical coating layer in automotive production, protecting a car's surfaces, edges and cavities from corrosion, as well as being the base for applying subsequent paint layers.
