On 30 May 2020, BASF kicked off the piling work of the first plants of its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China. The company said that this came as another important milestone in the development of the company’s USD 10 billion investment project since its official commencement in November 2019. The first plants will produce thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) and engineering plastics to serve the increasing needs of various growth industries in the southern China market and throughout Asia.
“It only took less than two years since the signing of the first Memorandum of Understanding to the official piling of our first plants. Thanks to the great support from government authorities and local communities, as well as to the continuous efforts of our employees and partners worldwide, the project has been progressing steadily,” said Haryono Lim, Senior Vice President, Senior Project New Verbund Site China, BASF. “We are confident to bring the first batch of ‘Made in Zhanjiang’ products to the market by the end of 2022 as planned.”