German chemical giant BASF launched the first plant at its new Zhanjiang Verbund site in the port city of Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. The new plant will produce 60,000 metric tons of engineering plastic compounds per year for customers in China, bringing BASF’s total annual capacity of engineering plastics in the Asia-Pacific to 420,000 metric tons by 2023. The new plant will enable BASF to meet growing demand from customers, particularly in the automotive and electronics industries. “It is an exciting start for our Zhanjiang Verbund site,” said Martin Brudermuller, Chairman of the Board of BASF. “The inauguration of the first plant paves the way for the site. Upon completion, it will be our third-largest Verbund site globally and a role model for sustainable production both in China and around the world,” he said. The plant will be supplied with 100% renewable electricity, and BASF aims to power the entire Zhanjiang Verbund site with 100% renewable power by 2025.
Board Member Markus Kamieth said the Zhanjiang Verbund site will be built with the latest digital technologies and to the highest safety standards, and it will provide high-quality, low-carbon footprint products and build up stronger business connections with customers in South China, underlining BASF’s commitment to the Chinese market. Kamieth is responsible for BASF Asia-Pacific region. Wang Weizhong, Guangdong Governor, met Brudermuller to further discuss the promotion and acceleration of construction of the Zhanjiang project. Kamieth and Guangdong Executive Vice Governor Zhang Hu also attended the meeting.
Governor Wang added that the project leads the construction of major petrochemical bases in China and even globally, which can be called the “new speed of the new era”. “This fully confirms that Guangdong, a major global production base, not only has a good atmosphere of opening-up and Sino-foreign cooperation, but also has a good business environment to attract international investment,” he said, adding that Zhanjiang is in a key stage of a new round of great development, the China Daily reports.
