BASF to build neopentyl glycol plant at Zhanjiang integration site

BASF announced on October 11 that it plans to invest in a new world-class neopentyl glycol plant with an annual capacity of 80,000 tons at its Zhanjiang integration site in China.

The new plant is expected to start up in the fourth quarter of 2025, which will increase BASF's global neopentyl glycol capacity from 255,000 tons to 335,000 tons per year. BASF currently has neopentyl glycol production facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Freeport, Texas, USA, as well as in Nanjing and Jilin, China.

Neopentyl glycol is an intermediate with high chemical and thermal stability properties and is mainly used in the production of powder coating resins. "The investment in a neopentyl glycol unit at our Zhanjiang integration site will allow us to support the growing demand of our customers in Asia, especially in the powder coatings sector in China." With synergies created by BASF's unique integration model combined with cutting-edge technology, this investment will increase competitive advantage in China, the world's largest chemical market, said Wasliang, senior vice president of BASF's Intermediates business unit in Asia Pacific.

It is reported that the BASF (Guangdong) integration base project, with a total investment of about 10 billion euros, is the largest single project invested by a German company in China and was launched in November 2019. the first unit was officially put into operation on September 6, and the first phase of the project entered the full-scale construction phase, mainly including the annual production capacity of 1 million tons of ethylene and downstream processing units. After the completion of the project, Zhanjiang, Guangdong will become BASF's third largest integrated production base in the world.