BASF to Raise Compounding Capacity for Engineering Plastics in China

By Tanya Tian
BASF will more than double the compounding capacity of engineering plastics by an additional 65 000 tons per year at its Pudong site in Shanghai. Phase one of the expansion is expected to be completed by 2013, the second phase by 2015. At present the company operates an engineering plastics compounding plant with a capacity of 45 000 t/a at the site.
   The expansion will involve a capital expenditure in the double digit million euro range.
   In 2010 the Asian consumption of polyamide and PBT compounds was over 900 000 tons - China accounted for 50% of this. In the next five years the engineering plastics market in Asia is expected to grow at about 8% per annum. This growth is driven by the increasing usage of engineering plastics in different industry segments, especially automobiles, where Engineering Plastics are an integral part of complex, high-value, high-performance automotive systems and make a significant contribution to the performance, safety and comfort of modern motor vehicles.
   In addition to this plant in Pudong, BASF has similar compounding facilities in Malaysia, South Korea, and India which are part of BASF's global network of engineering plastics compounding plants. This network covers other countries in Europe, North and Central America. After the expansion of the Pudong plant, BASF's total engineering plastics capacity in Asia will exceed 200 000 tons per annum.