BASF plans PU systems houses in China and Colombia

April 12-BASF is building two polyurethane systems houses, one in Chongqing, China, and the second in Cartagena, Colombia, to meet growing demand from construction, appliance, transport and footwear applications.

The unit in Chongqing will be in the same location as the German chemical company's planned 400 kilotonne per annum MDI (methylene diisocyanate) plant, an 8 April BASF statement said.

"With this step, BASF is the first global PU player to show a strong commitment to this important and fast-growing region," says Jacques Delmoitiez, president BASF Polyurethanes, adding that the new PU systems house will be fully back-integrated into the planned MDI plant "a significant advantage our customers can benefit from."

"The market for PU systems in Western China will continue to grow significantly," added Melanie Maas-Brunner, group vice president for BASF Polyurethanes in Asia-Pacific. "This growth is to a large extent driven by PU insulating materials for the construction industry, which will play an important role in saving valuable energy," she explained.

BASF said it expects the Chongqing systems house to start operations in 2012, working closely with two current systems houses and development centres in Shanghai and Nansha, China.

The systems house in Cartagena will serve markets in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, the BASF statement continued.

"We expect the market for PU systems in the Andean region to grow in the coming decade by 6 percent," said Anton Traunfellner, managing director, BASF Polyurethanes in South America, in the statement.

The site is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2011.

"With our global network of 38 system houses and world-scale production sites for PU basic products MDI, TDI and polyols in all regions, BASF is the only polyurethane manufacturer who can serve its customers worldwide from local production sites," Delmoitiez claimed.