BASF, through Chemetall brand, has inaugurated its state-of-the-art surface treatment production site in Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province, China. Mainly, the latest facility is under the Surface Treatment global business unit of the company’s Coatings division and operated by Chemetall. Specifically, the Pinghu site is BASF’s first production site located in the Dushan Port Economic Development Zone. It spans across 60,000sq.m and is the largest surface treatment site globally.

“In July this year, we expanded our production capacity of automotive refinish coatings at our Jiangmen site in Guangdong Province. Today, we celebrate the opening of our new surface treatment site in Pinghu. We are strategically located closely to our customers to meet the local demands for our advanced and time-tested solutions. Our goal is to be a growth-oriented surface technology leader, providing sustainable solutions, services, expertise and innovations that support our customers in various industries and in our key growth market – China,” said Uta Holzenkamp, President, Coatings Division, BASF.

“BASF is committed to growing in China, the world’s largest chemical market. It is our strategy to produce where our customers are. The Pinghu site is another good example to demonstrate our customer focus by enhancing our local technological and market positions,” said Jeffrey Lou, President and Chairman, BASF Greater China.

“Asia Pacific is the world’s fastest growing surface treatment market. Specifically, China accounts for approximately 50% of the market in Asia. We believe the China market will show attractive growth rates in the medium to long term. By localizing our cutting-edge processes and solutions, like our thin-film technology Oxsilan®, we are strengthening our leading position in China. Also, we will significantly reduce the delivery time to our local customers” said Christophe Cazabeau, Senior Vice President, Surface Treatment, Coatings Division, BASF.

The new facility was designed as a smart factory. Primarily, the Pinghu site allows a high level of process automation and end-to-end digitalization of the site operations. Specifically, it aims to achieve high efficiency in manufacturing and site logistics.

Moreover, the new site offers a comprehensive portfolio of applied surface treatment products and solutions to various market segment. Among them include, automotive OEM and components, coil, general industry, cold forming, aerospace, aluminum finishing and glass.