BASF's New Surface Treatment Plant

BASF Opens New Surface Treatment Facility BASF has opened its largest surface treatment facility in Pinghu, China. Designed as a smart factory, the new site enables a wide range of digital applications and automation. The Surface Treatment global business unit of BASF's Coatings Division, operating under the Chemetall brand, today celebrated the opening of a state-of-the-art surface treatment production facility in Pinghu, Zhejiang Province, China. Spanning 60,000 square meters, the Pinghu facility is BASF's first production facility in the Dushan Port Economic Development Zone and is BASF's largest surface treatment facility worldwide. Uta Holzenkamp, Head of BASF's Coatings Division, said, "In July of this year, we expanded our automotive refinish coatings production capacity at our Jiangmen facility in Guangdong Province. Today, we celebrate the opening of our new surface treatment facility in Pinghu. We are strategically positioned close to our customers to meet local demand for our advanced and time-tested solutions. Our objective is to be a growth-focused surface technology leader that provides sustainable solutions, services, expertise and innovations supporting our customers in various industries and in China, our growing major market." Jeffrey Lou, President and CEO of BASF Greater China, stated, "BASF is committed to growth in China, the world's largest chemical market. Our strategy is to produce where our customers are. The Pinghu site is another good example of our customer focus, strengthening our local technological and market position." [caption id="attachment_152195" align="aligncenter"] Surface treatment facility in Pinghu, Zhejiang Province, China, operated by Zhejiang Chemetall Surface Treatment Materials Co., Ltd.[/caption] Christophe Cazabeau, Senior Vice President responsible for Surface Treatment in BASF's Coatings Division, said, "Asia Pacific is the world's fastest-growing surface treatment market and China represents approximately 50% of the market in Asia. We believe the Chinese market will show attractive growth rates in the medium to long term. By localizing our cutting-edge processes and solutions, such as our thin-film technology Oxsilan®, we are strengthening our leading position in China and will significantly reduce delivery times for our local customers." Designed as a smart factory, the Pinghu facility enables high-level process automation in field operations and end-to-end digitalization for high efficiency in production and field logistics. The new site offers a comprehensive portfolio of applied surface treatment products and solutions for various market segments including, but not limited to, automotive OEM and components, coils, general industry, cold forming, aerospace, aluminum coating and glass. Source