BASF broke ground on the construction of its new Polyurethane System House in Tianjin, China. The new facility will be located in Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (Hangu Modern Industrial Zone). At the new system house, BASF will deliver customized polyurethane solutions to its customers, fully supported by local production, in-house sales, technical service and development teams. The plant is expected to start up in 2012.

"The Northern China region is witnessing a thriving PU market with above average growth rates and considerable increases in production and demand in the years to come," said Dr. Melanie Maas-Brunner, senior vice president of Polyurethanes in Asia Pacific. "Tianjin is at the heart of the boom and this strategically located, new System House shows we are committed to the China market. It further boosts our capacity to provide sustainable and energy efficient polyurethane solutions to support and serve rapidly growing sectors such as the construction and automotive industries, and emerging markets for renewable energy like wind and solar energy."

China is already the largest polyurethane market in the world and forecasted to maintain a strong growth rate in the coming decade. The planned System Houses in Chongqing, will join two current state-of-the-art System Houses and Regional Development Centers in Shanghai and Nansha.
BASF's worldwide System House network is supported by production sites for PU basic material, including a TDI and MDI production site in Caojing, Shanghai and a newly approved MDI plant and planned System House project in Chongqing.

"The investments we are making in these sites will serve to foster and facilitate the development of an environmentally-friendly, resource-conserving eco-city like Tianjin," said Mass-Brunner." BASF is creating customized PU system solutions to address customers' challenges in energy conservation and carbon footprint reduction, all paving the way for more optimal sustainable development.