BASF today opened its ASEAN Technical Development Center adjacent to its existing Polyurethane (PU) System House at Bangpoo site in Thailand. The new facility houses a state-of-the-art pre-polymer reactor technology to produce a hardener (component B) - a key component to boost product development efficiency, thereby enabling faster time-to-market of PU materials and solutions.
The advanced reactor technology is further designed to deliver on a much larger capacity, meeting most demanding customer requirements across all grades. The new pre-polymer reactor technology is additionally capable of developing customized PU System products, which helps improve the commercialization of these specialized solutions.
The ASEAN Technical Development Center also boasts several new service upgrades, such as more advanced testing and software capabilities. With the new pre-polymer reactor technology, the ASEAN Technical Center strengthens and complements BASF's technical support network in China, Korea, and Germany.
"Through the ASEAN Technical Development Center, we are better positioned to support our customers and help them capitalize on growth opportunities in ASEAN across key industries and applications," said Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF. "Together with the expanded polyurethane system house, we are demonstrating our commitment to ASEAN, with even more reliable supply, as well as technical expertise and innovation capabilities."
BASF previously increased the production capacity of its polyurethane system house in Bangpoo as part of a move to better meet the growing demand across automotive, consumer, construction, and industrial markets in ASEAN. With a total production area of 2,700 m2, the redesigned system house includes additional mixing vessels, reactors, and storage tanks.
The ASEAN car market by production volume continues to grow with differentiated products and emerging applications. Thailand and Indonesia are among the largest automotive industries in Southeast Asia, while Vietnam is already one of the world's largest footwear exporters, and its industry is expected to grow as more manufacturers are relocating their manufacturing base there.
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About BASF's Performance Materials division
BASF's Performance Materials division encompasses the entire materials' know-how of BASF regarding innovative, customized plastics under one roof. Globally active in four major industry sectors - transportation, construction, industrial applications and consumer goods - the division has a strong portfolio of products and services combined with deep understanding of application-oriented system solutions. Key drivers of profitability and growth are our close collaboration with customers and a clear focus on solutions. Strong capabilities in R&D provide the basis to develop innovative products and applications. In 2019, the Performance Materials division achieved global sales of EUR6.06 bn. More information online: www.plastics.basf.com.
About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 117,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of EUR59 billion in 2019. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com.