Plants: Mitsubishi Chemical, Asahi Kasei, Mitsui Chemicals to merge steam crackers; BASF to open digital hub in India, plus reduce digital services workforce

Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical, Asahi Kasei and Mitsui Chemicals have reached an agreement to merge their naphtha-fed steam crackers, scrapping the steam cracker in Mizushima, the companies said in a joint statement recently.

Mitsubishi Chemical and Asahi Kasei jointly own a naphtha-fed steam cracker in Mizushima through their 50-50 joint venture, Asahi Kasei Mitsubishi Chemical Ethylene Corp., established in 2016, while Mitsui Chemicals operates a naphtha-fed steam cracker in Osaka.

The two crackers, with a combined ethylene production capacity of 951,000 tonnes/year, will be merged into a single facility in Osaka, the companies said.

The merger of the steam crackers is planned for fiscal year 2030-31 (April-March), the companies said. The consolidated steam cracker, with an ethylene production capacity of 455,000 tonnes/year, will be operated by a joint venture to be established by the three companies.

The shareholding structure of the new company has yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, announced cracker rationalisations in Japan include the planned shutdown of Maruzen Petrochemical's naphtha-fed steam cracker in Chiba in FY 2026-27, the consolidation of Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui Chemicals' ethylene production in Chiba in July 2027 and the expected decommissioning of one of Eneos's two naphtha-fed steam crackers in Kawasaki by 2028.

In other news, Germany’s BASF plans to open a global Digital Hub in Hyderabad, India, in the first quarter of 2026, sharpening BASF’s existing global Digital Hub network in Europe (Ludwigshafen and Madrid) and Asia Pacific (Kuala Lumpur). The company has also stated that the Global Digital Services division aims to significantly reduce its global workforce by 2030.

Digital Hubs are centers of digital expertise that deliver standardised, digital services at scale to BASF’s businesses worldwide. The Digital Hub in Hyderabad strengthens BASF’s global digital setup by consolidating capabilities at a cost-efficient location and enabling faster and leaner service delivery.

“With this next step in value creation in BASF’s back-end organisation, we ensure digital service delivery on competitive terms,” said Dr. Dirk Elvermann, CFO/Chief Digital Officer, BASF SE. “Hyderabad offers all the attributes of a state-of-the-art Digital Hub with global reach. Seamless cooperation between the new Digital Hub in India and our existing global Digital Hubs, and excellent service delivery to our businesses, are the top priorities.”

Another pillar to reduce complexity and cost is to standardise and focus the digital portfolio on areas that generate the greatest value for BASF’s core businesses. This will be accompanied by structural changes. Overall, the division Global Digital Services aims to significantly reduce its global workforce by 2030. This includes positions in Ludwigshafen.

Furthermore, Global Digital Services plans to reduce the overall number of sites at which digital specialists are located. All measures will be implemented in a socially responsible manner and in compliance with existing co-determination rights, BASF says.

Preparations for opening the Digital Hub in Hyderabad are underway.

“The Digital Hub in Hyderabad becomes part of BASF’s long-standing and successful presence in India with existing manufacturing and research and development activities in the country. It supports BASF’s ambition to work faster, leaner and focus on what creates the most value,” said Alexander Gerding, Head of BASF Group Companies in India.

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