China Expansions: BASF opens R&D centre for coatings; breaks ground on acrylic acid complex in Zhanjiang

BASF Shanghai Coatings (BSC) has announced the opening of its new technical centre building at the BSC Minhang site. As one of the key highlights of the Minhang extension project, the launch of the technical centre building is said to mark another milestone. With the brand-new outlook, BSC says it will be able to serve automotive OEM customers in China with its technology, products and services.

Equipped with advanced laboratory facilities and a team of highly qualified and experienced staff, the new technical centre building can provide customers with total solutions covering whole process from colour design, styling and matching, to product development and launch based on its "color + innovation” studio.

The e-coat application technology centre is newly built to enhance technical competence and application engineering capability. The e-coat application laboratory and pilot plant are able to offer product approval, quality conduct and process compatibility tests, while supporting customers on parameter adjustment as well as process and engineering optimization via bath and engineering simulation.

The Minhang extension project was started in 2020, including the upgrade of a comprehensive office building, a technical centre building, the e-coat application technology centre, and the newly established Chemetall regional R&D centre. The expanded Minhang site will become a production site with major focus on coatings and surface treatment development, bringing development, technical services and salespeople closer together to form the best team for OEM customers and jointly promote the innovative and sustainable development of the automotive coatings industry.

The Coatings division of BASF is involved in the development, production and marketing of automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries.

Meanwhile in related news, BASF says it has broken ground on a new production complex at its site in Zhanjiang, China, that includes plants for glacial acrylic acid (GAA), butyl acrylate (BA) and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA). Planned to come on stream by 2025, the complex will have an annual production capacity of approximately 400,000 tonnes/year of BA and 100,000 tonnes/year of 2-EHA.

“The groundbreaking marks a significant milestone in further expanding our production capacities in the acrylics value chain in China,” said Hartwig Michels, President of BASF’s Petrochemicals division. “These new world-scale facilities will enable us to meet the growing Chinese and Asian market demand for acrylics that are used in various industries like hygiene or paint and coatings.”

“By strengthening our presence in key markets where our customers are located, we can more efficiently support our customers’ business growth. Being fully backward integrated in Zhanjiang Verbund site, the new acrylics facilities will provide our regional customers with a reliable supply of high-quality products with short lead times,” said Haibo Tian, Vice President, Industrial Petrochemicals Asia Pacific, at BASF.

Acrylic acid is an important precursor for the production of superabsorbent polymers. Butyl acrylate, an ester of acrylic acid, is used, for example, in the production of adhesives and architectural and industrial coatings. 2-ethylhexyl acrylate is an important raw material for adhesives and coatings.

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