Sep 28 2005
BASF aims to achieve 10 percent of its global sales and earnings in the chemical business in China by 2010. The importance of the company’s activities in China was stressed in a press conference in Nanjing on the day before the opening ceremony of the company’s first Verbund site in China. The site is the largest single investment in BASF’s 140-year history and an integral part of BASF’s strategy in the Asia Pacific region.
“We want to shape the future of Asia with our chemistry,” said Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht, Chairman of BASF’s Board of Executive Directors. “That is why we have built the most modern plants, and use the latest highly integrated processes at our new Verbund site in Nanjing.”
Overall, BASF has invested €5.6 billion in Asia between 1990 and 2005. To further expand BASF’s production network for cost-efficient standard and base chemicals, high-value specialty chemicals and tailor-made systems, BASF plans to invest an additional €1 billion until 2009.
“We are convinced that China will remain the growth engine in Asia overall and for the chemical industry in particular,” said Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, member of BASF’s Board of Executive Directors responsible for Asia Pacific, “The new Verbund site in Nanjing will make an important contribution toward achieving our ambitious goals in this region.”
BASF-YPC Co. Ltd. is a 50-50 joint venture between BASF and SINOPEC. The 220-hectare site produces 1.7 million metric tons of high-quality chemicals and polymers per year for the rapidly growing Chinese market. A total of $2.9 billion has been invested in the construction of the integrated Verbund site. At the height of construction technical experts from 22 countries and 15,000 workers – with a diverse range of occupations and cultures – were on site, working together to build the plants and infrastructure. During the construction phase, more than 100,000 workers received very thorough safety training from BASF.
“Tomorrow, it will be only four years to the day since we broke ground for the new Verbund site here in Nanjing,” said Hambrecht. “That we successfully accomplished a project on this scale is due in particular to the tremendous efforts of our employees here, our partner companies, and of course the strong support of the Chinese and German governments. I would like to whole-heartedly thank all those involved for their outstanding work.”
The Nanjing site is modeled on the Verbund concept originating from BASF’s headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany – the world’s largest, single-company chemical production complex. By linking manufacturing plants, the company can use products, by-products and energy in the most efficient way, so as to realize cost efficiency and minimize environmental impact. As a result, BASF-YPC Co. Ltd. will make a contribution to the sustainable development of the local economy and the Chinese chemical industry. BASF has, therefore, commissioned the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) to carry out a study to analyze the economic, environmental, and social effects of its investment in Nanjing.
http://www.basf.com