BASF selects Zhanjiang for new integrated chemicals complex

BASF has picked Zhanjiang as the site for its new US$10bn chemicals complex in China.

The new framework agreement signed last week builds on a memorandum of understanding agreed in July that the chemical major would build a highly-integrated – or Verbund – complex in Guangdong province. The phased project will include a steam cracker with a production capacity of 1m t/y of ethylene. Located on an area of land measuring 9 km², the complex will benefit from Zhanjiang’s deepwater port and strong transportation links, BASF announced.

It is developing a smart manufacturing concept for the new site based on cutting-edge technologies that maximise resources and energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact. This comes as BASF outlined plans for research into new technology that will enable it to grow production by 50% by 2030 while keeping emissions at today's levels.

“By 2030, China’s share of the global chemical production will increase to nearly 50%. Guangdong is a growing market for innovations from chemistry, and our new site will support customers in multiple industries. We aim to help our customers to grow sustainably with our portfolio of products, solutions and services, and at the same time establish new concepts to improve the sustainability of our own operations,” said BASF chairman Martin Brudermüller.

BASF expects to complete the project around 2030, with the first plants finished by 2026 at the latest.

BASF uses the term Verbund to describe its interconnection of production plants, where the products, by-products, and energy such as waste heat from one plant are fed to others downstream. Its existing six Verbund sites are in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Antwerp, Belgium; Texas and Louisiana, US; Nanjing, China, and Kuantan, Malaysia.