European chemical enterprises explore opportunities for China

"BASF's largest overseas investment project landed in China!" Germany's BASF, a chemical giant, broke ground on November 23 on a $10 billion petrochemical project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China, the business daily reported on November 25. This is the latest foreign company to expand its business in China in the context of China's gradual easing of restrictions on foreign investment, and the first case of a wholly foreign-owned enterprise in China's heavy chemical industry. "China has become the largest chemical market in the world and is forming the most perfect chemical ecosystem," Kasper, an international economist at Hamburg University, told the global times. Under the dividend of China's opening up, European chemical enterprises have increased their investment in China in recent months. Chemical cooperation between China and the EU is on the fast track. " Reporter of Global Times learned from BASF headquarters in Ludwigshafen that BASF will first build an integrated production base in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province to produce engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane. The device is expected to be put into operation in 2022 and can produce 60000 tons of modified engineering plastic products every year, mainly used in automobile and electronic industries. The base is expected to be completed in 2030, covering an area of about 9 square kilometers.

This project reflects China's speed. " BASF senior engineer Olaf told reporters. The project has only taken 16 months from its preparation in July last year to its formal launch. This is not possible in Europe and elsewhere. At present, BASF operates six integrated bases in the world, respectively in Europe, North America and Asia. After the completion of the project, Zhanjiang base will become BASF's third largest base in the world, second only to Ludwig port in Germany and Antwerp base in Belgium, and also the largest investment project in BASF's 154 year history. BASF has set up a subsidiary in Guangdong to operate the first wholly foreign-owned enterprise in China's heavy chemical industry. This reflects BASF's confidence in the Chinese market. Bo Muluo, CEO of BASF Group, pointed out that BASF was not worried about the impact of short-term economic fluctuations on strategic investment. The life cycle of chemical projects can be as long as 50-60 years. The determinant of investment is the fundamentals of the market. "The fundamentals of China's economy are very good. We believe that the potential of China's market will increase its demand for various chemical products in the future."

European chemical enterprises are setting off a new investment craze in China! " German focus weekly pointed out that except BASF, almost all large European chemical companies have announced new projects in China. Dutch Shell Oil previously announced a 10 billion US dollar investment in China, including the expansion of the second phase of Huizhou CNOOC shell petrochemical base to form a larger "refining and chemical integration base". Recently, Solvay, a Belgian chemical group, also decided to expand its research center in China and increase its production of special plastics in China. The company's annual sales in China exceed $1 billion. In April this year, air liquide group of France and Chengdu Huaqi Houpu company completed the establishment of a joint venture company, Air Liquide Houpu hydrogen energy equipment Co., Ltd., aiming to develop, manufacture and deploy hydrogen refueling stations for fuel cell electric vehicles. German Evonik and Chinese enterprises recently signed a joint R & D agreement, which will further cooperate in the field of probiotics for animal nutrition and industrial enzymes. "Joint R & D will be carried out in the fields of breeding, production, formula and application of new probiotic solutions to promote innovation," said the head of Evonik's animal nutrition business In February this year, British Ineos benzeling completed the acquisition of two polystyrene production bases of total in China. "This deal not only enables us to better serve our existing customers in the region, especially those in the home and electronics industries, but also provides us with access to the broader market in China," said McQueen, CEO of the company Chemical industry is one of the largest industrial sectors in Europe, second only to automobile manufacturing, machinery manufacturing and electronic industry in Germany.

There are more than 2000 top chemical enterprises in the Netherlands. But recently markets such as Europe have been in trouble due to trade disputes and other issues. Many European chemical companies have cut jobs. BASF has decided to cut 6000 jobs worldwide, Bayer plans to cut 12000 jobs, and Cisco plans to cut 900 jobs by 2021. Evonik will cut 1000 jobs worldwide In China, European companies have increased investment and increased the number of employees. According to the analysis of caspoole, an international economist, Europe and Asia are the main production areas of chemical products. European companies have technology and Asian markets. In particular, China has become the largest chemical market in the world, and now occupies more than 40% of the global market share. This figure is expected to be close to 50% by 2030. "If you want to continue to be a leading global chemical company, you have to participate in China's growth," said Bo According to Casper, China has an overall upstream and downstream supply chain of the chemical industry, including superior logistics infrastructure, innovative R & D system, excellent international business environment and highly integrated chemical industry cluster. And the Chinese government has recently launched new opening policies. To provide a more comprehensive legal guarantee for foreign-funded enterprises, including European chemical enterprises, to operate in China. Environmental protection is an important problem in chemical industry. Previously, the media questioned that European chemical companies were "delivering pollution" to China.