Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

BASF Coatings, a division of BASF SE, is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries.

BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific.

In 2023, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about $4.7 billion. The company employs approximately 11,400 people globally and has more than 70 sites worldwide. This portfolio is supplemented by “Beyond Paint Solutions,” which enable new applications with innovative surfaces.

The State of the Coatings Industry

Uta Holzenkamp, president BASF Coatings division:

“The automotive market has recovered in 2024, and resolved its supply chain issues from last year. As a manufacturer of solutions ranging from pre-treatment via automotive OEM coatings to refinish coatings, BASF Coatings is supplying our customers with higher volumes to meet the resulting increase in demand.

We expect moderate growth globally, with some stagnation in Europe. Our focus remains on developing and delivering winning products and services that will contribute to our customers’ success now and in the future.

Sustainability is a key priority for BASF. We support our customers to meet and exceed their sustainability needs. One focus is to save energy, e.g. by reducing the baking temperature. Further examples are GLASURIT 100 Line water-based refinish coatings and the innovative Oxsilan multi-metal pretreatment process. BASF’s Coatings division continuously transitions to renewable energy sources for its production sites, leverages biobased raw materials and collaborates with its suppliers to increase eco-efficiency throughout the value chains.

BASF also significantly invests in R&D to enhance the functionality of coatings, such as those solutions improving transparency for radar waves and reflection for LiDAR sensors. This enhances driver assistance systems and autonomous driving.

Looking to the future, BASF Coatings continues to leverage the opportunities of automation, digitalization, and artificial intelligence for all areas such as supply chain, production, R&D. New business models will play a significant role – and we are working closely together with our customers to shape the future of our industry.”

2023 Success Story

BASF Shanghai Coatings Minhang and Caojing sites in Shanghai, and BASF Coatings’ resin plant in Caojing, Shanghai, have announced the use of 100% renewable energy usage across its operations in 2023. This moves BASF’s Coatings division one step closer to its global sustainability targets – on carbon reduction, material efficiency, and safe and sustainable solutions.

Through combination of Renewable Direct Power Purchase (R-DPP), purchase of I-REC international renewable energy certificate and other measures, it’s estimated that BASF Automotive OEM Coatings will reduce the equivalent of approximately 19,000 tons of carbon emissions through the end of 2023 in China.

“Sustainability is firmly anchored in our company strategy. We are proud to be one of the industry leaders to fully use renewable energy across our operations. It helps us to minimize the carbon footprint and further demonstrates BASF’s commitment to its net zero target. As a leading OEM coatings supplier in the automotive industry, we aim to meet the rapidly increasing sustainability expectations of our customers from OEMs and automotive component suppliers”, said Jack Zou, vice president, Automotive OEM Coatings Asia Pacific, BASF.

BASF’s climate goal is to reduce its CO2 emissions by 25% by 2030 compared with 2018 and achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Increasing the use of renewable energy at its sites – including the headquarters in Münster, Germany – is a good example of how BASF Coatings explores innovative technologies and solutions to reduce climate impact and helps its customers to reduce the carbon footprint across the entire value chain.

Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

BASF Coatings, a division of BASF SE, is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific. In 2022, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about $4.55 billion. The company employs approximately 11,400 people globally and has more than 70 sites worldwide. The Coatings division of BASF is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. This portfolio is supplemented by “Beyond Paint Solutions,” which enable new applications with innovative surfaces.

Key Happenings:

• BASF and BMW Group rely on renewable raw materials for automotive coatings
• BASF launches first biomass balance automotive coatings in China
• AeroSHARK from Lufthansa Technik and BASF now certified for Boeing 777

The State of the Coatings Industry:

Uta Holzenkamp, head of BASF’s Coatings division:

“Last year was a major challenge for the entire global economy, and in the automotive industry factors such as the semiconductor crisis or the ongoing COVID-19 situation led to a decline in production figures. Together with significantly rising raw material prices, this had a strong impact on our automotive OEM coatings business.

“The automotive OEM market in Asia Pacific is still strong and we stay close to our customers to support them with state-of-the-art coatings technology. Last year, we expanded our Automotive Coatings Application Center at the Coatings Technology Center in Mangalore, India. The expansion of the application center is an important addition to serve the Indian market with high-quality coatings solutions. It symbolizes our strong commitment to supporting the automotive industry’s long-term growth in the country. Furthermore, this investment is a significant milestone in our effort to further strengthen our R&D footprint in Asia Pacific and improves our proximity to customers in one of the fastest growing regions for our automotive coatings solutions. With the expanded automotive coatings application center, we aim to not only continue our investment in OEM coatings in India, but to also support long-term growth in the automotive market in the region going forward.

“However, the business is still volatile, and the past years proved that especially the supply chain needs increased attention. Therefore, we continuously monitor developments on the market and identify alternatives where possible so that we can counteract interruptions in the supply chain at an early stage. While supply problems with raw materials have a direct impact on the production of our products, factors such as the semiconductor crisis, for example, lead to our customers interrupting their production and thus being unable to take delivery of our products. We therefore need to keep a close eye on both sides of the supply chain and respond at an early stage.”

Facing Key Trends:

“We are continuously developing coatings and surface solutions that offer superior functional, economic and environmental performance. This is not limited to the products itself, but also includes the way we are working. The industry is undergoing a transformation process in which megatrends such as digitization and sustainability are playing an important role. Through intelligent use of data, processes can be optimized, supply chains can be tracked, and products can be used more efficiently. We want to walk this path together with our customers and develop solutions tailored to their

specific needs.

“The Coatings division of BASF will become an even more complete provider of surface solutions. In addition to our core business automotive paint, we will also focus on solutions beyond paint and digital business models to develop new markets. Our Digital Incubation Unit acts as a business model incubator. It offers an environment to ideate, prototype and scale-up innovative, digital business ideas from the area of Automotive and Surface Solutions.

And of course sustainability will stay in our focus. We will consequently together with our partners implement the next steps to achieve our Net Zero targets and to create a more

sustainable future.”

Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

Uta Holzenkamp, president BASF Group’s Coatings division; Frank Naber, SVP Automotive OEM Coatings Solutions EMEA; Chris Titmarsh, SVP Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions EMEA; Nils Lessmann, SVP Coatings Solutions Americas; Marcos Allemann, VP Decorative Paints Solutions South America; Patrick Zhao, SVP Coatings Solutions Asia Pacific; Christophe Cazabeau, SVP Surface Treatment.

BASF Coatings, a division of BASF SE, is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific.

In 2021, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about $3.58 billion. The company employs approximately 111,000 people globally and has more than 70 sites worldwide.

The Coatings division of BASF is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. This portfolio is supplemented by “Beyond Paint Solutions,” which enable new applications with innovative surfaces.

Key Happenings:

• Launched functional film Sharkskin for aerospace
• Launced Refinity, a cloud-based digital platform for collision repair
• BASF and Entegris sign agreement on the sale of Precision Microchemicals business

The state of the coatings industry:

Uta Holzenkamp, head of BASF’s Coatings division:

“2021 proved to be another challenging year, especially in the automotive OEM sector. Besides coping with the ongoing pandemic, our customers had to temporarily curtail or even completely shut down their production due to the global shortage in semiconductors. Escalating raw material and energy prices also left their mark on our business environment.

Despite all these hurdles we continued to focus on our customers and managed the market volatility successfully in very close cooperation. In addition, our refinish coatings, deco business and surface technology businesses performed excellently in 2021.

However, the automotive OEM business is starting to ramp up with focus in Asia. But we do not expect the automotive market to fully recover in 2022. Supply chain disruptions, especially in semiconductors, continue to create volatility in the business environment. But now that the pandemic situation is improving, we are looking forward to reconnecting by increasingly meeting our customers again.

The automotive OEM market is still the most important market for us. We see strong growth potential in Asia Pacific, where we further strengthened our market position in recent years by strategic investments. We are established as one of the leading suppliers for automotive coatings solutions globally and will differentiate also in the future with innovation and sustainability. The increasing need for electric vehicles, autonomous driving and more sustainable solutions offer significant growth potential for BASF.”

Facing Key Trends

“Actively shaping the transformation toward sustainability and digitalization is an integral part of our strategy. We live our purpose – ‘We create chemistry for a sustainable future’ – for many years. To fight climate change we target to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. This needs a lot of creativity and strong partnerships e.g. to use increasingly renewable energies, to develop more energy efficient processes and more sustainable products. Together with our customers and other partners in the value chain who have also set themselves ambitious targets, we implement every day more steps towards a more sustainable future.

“Digitalization has developed rapidly in many areas like operations and supply chain with more efficient processes, amazing visualization of colors and simulation of test methods like stone-chipping to accelerate product development – just to name a few. With the help of new and disruptive digital technologies, we will create exciting customer experiences, grow our business through new business models and make our and our partner’s processes even more efficient.

“People create these transformations and make them reality. Our diverse team and the strong trustful cooperation with many partners is key. We need expertise, bold ideas, courage, the strength to implement and an inspiring culture. With the people I have met since becoming president of Coatings at the beginning of the year, I am very confident and excited to jointly make it happen.”

Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

BASF Coatings, a division of BASF SE, is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. The portfolio is completed by the “Innovation Beyond Paint” program which aims at developing new markets and businesses.

BASF creates advanced performance solutions and drive performance, design and new applications to meet its partners’ needs all over the world. BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific.

In 2020, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about $3.68 billion. The company employs approximately 110,000 people globally.

BASF has recently secured a multi-year contract with Mercedes-Benz in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region that extends its long-standing, commercially approved supplier status with the car company to Australia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The agreement, which builds upon its success with Mercedes-Benz in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, includes its Glasurit and R-M premium automotive refinishing brands and RODIM paint-related products. Efficient digital color solutions, world-class training solutions and technical support, as well as a suite of exclusively branded Vision360® advanced business management solutions designed to increase body shop performance and efficiency are also part of the agreement.

As part of the complete offer to Mercedes-Benz, BASF will deliver a complete offering of digital and data solutions including its highly efficient digital color management tools, which help body shops to speed up workflows. Its digital portable spectrophotometers precisely measure the color on the car, and quickly and easily takes the painter to the desired mixing formula.

2020 Success Story:

BASF launched Glasurit 100 Line in 2020, setting a new standard for sustainability and profitability in the refinish business. The innovative 100 Line helps customers become more competitive and increase net profits, improve their environmental footprint, and drive overall performance. Glasurit 100 Line is the first basecoat line on the market with a VOC value of 250 g/l, a 40% reduction from traditional waterborne basecoats, and far lower than any global VOC requirements. The new line will fit and expand Glasurit’s existing product portfolio, consisting of 90 Line, 55 Line and 22 Line.

“Glasurit 100 Line is a game-changer for our customers. Not only does it offer them unprecedented quality and efficiency, but it has set a new sustainability standard with the lowest VOC values on the market. When you add this to its excellent color stability, robustness in application and its environmental attributes, 100 Line is the most innovative and sustainable paint system in the industry for getting more car jobs done,” said Fabien Boschetti, director, global marketing, BASF Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions.

“When comparing with existing basecoat lines in the market, customers can expect savings of up to 35% in overall process times through faster application and shorter flash-off cycles.  Another 20% savings can be made as material consumption is reduced,” added Boschetti.

Glasurit 100 Line consists of innovative pigment technology which ensures body shops are prepared for the current and future spectrum of brilliant colors in the automotive industry. 100 Line’s color stability is very robust and highly resistant to external influences. In addition, Glasurit leads with its digital color management solutions and takes the search for the right color to a new level with Glasurit’s spectrophotometer SmartSCAN. Customers can easily and quickly identify the precise colors and gain access to thousands of color formulas.

Key Happenings:
• BASF renews global sponsorship of WorldSkills to continue developing new talent
• BASF and DiDi enter partnership to reshape the carsharing industry
• For the body shops of the future: BASF launches new waterborne basecoat line
• BASF becomes global preferred partner for paint related products to BMW

Awards from 2020
“Supplier of the Year” award, General Motors (GM)
“Overdrive Award” for sustainability, General Motors (GM)

Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

BASF Coatings, a division of BASF SE, is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. The portfolio is completed by the “Innovation Beyond Paint” program which aims at developing new markets and businesses.

BASF creates advanced performance solutions and drive performance, design and new applications to meet its partners’ needs all over the world. BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific.

In 2019, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about $4.15 billion. The company employs 117,000 people globally.

On Sept. 30, BASF acquired a majority share of the internet platform UBench with offices in Turnhout and Geel, Belgium. Both companies have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction. The transaction includes UBench International NV, CarRoll BVBA and DLight BVBA. Regulatory approvals are not required.

UBench and its more than 30 employees continuously advance the in-house developed internet platform and manage the service portfolio for various customers in the automotive aftermarket, such as leasing companies, insurance companies, car manufacturers and companies with large fleets.

“The transaction reflects BASF’s strategic and long-term commitment to grow in the refinish business beyond premium paint and to enhance customer experience,” said Dirk Bremm, president of BASF’s Coatings division.

“UBench is a collaborative digital platform business that increases our portfolio by providing service solutions,” said Katja Scharpwinkel, SVP BASF Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions Europe. “By connecting all players in the automotive aftermarket industry, we strengthen our position in the fast-growing automotive service segment.”

UBench will continue its current activities as a standalone business under the umbrella of the newly established UBench BV.

Key Happenings:

• BASF doubling the production capacity of automotive refinish coatings at Jiangmen, China site;

• BASF opened Refinish Competence Center in Toluca, Mexico;

• BASF’s Chemetall division completes expansion of its production site in Langelsheim, Germany;

• BASF Spain inaugurates renovated Refinish Competence Center;

• BASF starts up plant for functionalizing foils at the Muenster site;

• BASF enhanced its regional innovation capabilities with new facilities at the Innovation Campus Shanghai, to further strengthen collaboration with the automotive industry

Awards from 2019

“Supply Chain & Quality Improvement,” Airbus

“Supplier of the Year,” General Motors “Sustainability Partner,” GM “Customer First Recognition” in gold, Jaguar Land Rover.

BASF Starts Piling of the First Plants of its Smart Verbund Project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong

On May 30, BASF kicked off the piling work of the first plants of its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China. This came as another important milestone in the development of the company’s $10 billion investment project since its official commencement in November 2019. The first plants will produce engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) 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 VP, 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.” BASF applies the highest safety standards and will implement a comprehensive smart manufacturing concept at the Verbund site based on cutting-edge technologies. As of today, the project has reached a record of 50,000 safe work hours without a lost-time injury since commencement.

Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

BASF Coatings is a division of BASF SE. BASF’s Coatings division is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific. In 2018, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about €3.86 billion. Europe represents 38 percent of total sales, Asia Pacific 26 percent, North America 22 percent and South America, Africa and the Middle East 14 percent.

With AUROOM, BASF’s Coatings division introduced a digital platform which enables OEM designers to access a database of photo-realistic virtual car colors. BASF’s virtual colors capture all facets of automotive coatings including lightness flop, color flop and sparkling. By mapping these colors on car models, OEM designers can virtually paint every color proposal and gain realistic impressions of colors and effects on a complete car already in an early design phase. AUROOM will be a valuable tool for OEM designers to speed up and perfect the overall color design process as they are no longer solely dependent on physical samples that need to be painted and shipped. In the startup phase, BASF’s virtual color solution will first be introduced to OEMs in EMEA.

BASF is enhancing its regional innovation capabilities with new facilities at the Innovation Campus Shanghai, to further strengthen collaboration with the automotive industry and to offer new process catalysts to the chemical industry. With an investment of approximately €34 million, the new 5,000-square-meter facilities include the Automotive Application Center and the Process Catalysis Research & Development (R&D) Center.

At the inauguration, the company also presented a range of locally-developed innovations which support customers in industries like automotive, construction and consumer goods, and which address important market trends to reduce emissions, increase energy efficiency and enhance performance. BASF launched an innovative waterborne coating system on the same occasion.

“China’s most important growth industries can benefit enormously from innovations in chemistry. Thanks to continuous investment in research and development over the past several years, we are able to support our customers in China and the entire Asia Pacific region as they strive to improve consumers’ quality of life, address challenges of rapid development and meet their sustainability goals,” said Dr. Stephan Kothrade, president Functions Asia Pacific, president and chairman Greater China, BASF.

Equipped with a spray booth for electrostatic applications, a physical testing lab and a 3D robot, the BASF Automotive Application Center, Asia Pacific is designed to enable customer-oriented R&D activities. The 3D robot can simulate nearly any situation on a paint line, anywhere in the world; enabling the new center to optimize application processes and products. It can apply the automotive coatings not only on horizontal and vertical surfaces, but also on three-dimensional objects such as car doors and bumpers. The robot allows BASF to develop new products for customers in the automotive industry. It provides design solutions for automotive products as well as potential new trends and developments in the automotive coatings industry. The expanded capacities also feature laboratories for sustainable painting applications.

Located at the same premises, the new Process Catalysis R&D Center will focus on the development of new process catalysts to meet the specific needs of BASF customers in Asia Pacific.

The center hosts highly specialized testing units for evaluating solid catalyst performance, and state-of-the-art facilities for solids processing. Scientists will develop new catalytic materials for both new and existing process catalysis applications. Solid processes such as solid formation, separation, formulation, thin film coating, drying and solid handling will be designed and optimized at the facility. The new R&D center will also scale up tailor-made process catalysts and adsorbents for the regional catalyst market, adding additional value through close cooperation and proximity to BASF’s customers and partners in Asia Pacific. It will complement BASF’s world-scale process catalyst manufacturing site, located in Caojing, Shanghai.

Solutions address sustainability challenges

For the first time, BASF presented a range of innovations developed locally at the Innovation Campus Shanghai. From new polymer dispersions to sustainable paints, BASF helps drive innovations that support sustainability and enhance quality of life.

• ColorEco is a novel waterborne Monocoat and waterborne integrated paint system. The solution is first applied on light commercial vehicles from JAC, a leading commercial vehicle manufacturer based in Anhui Province, China. It helps automotive manufacturers meet strict regulations for emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), especially in the light commercial vehicle and compact multi- purpose vehicle segments. The conventional system requires four coating layers. With the Integrated Process 2 for metallic colors, the first layer primer is integrated into the basecoat with better functionality. With Monocoat, it is even possible to integrate three steps into one – saving time, energy, and materials.

A new polymer dispersion Styrofan PLUS 7552 has been developed enhancing the performance of waterproofing membranes that are used in harsh or wet areas such as kitchens, bathrooms and swimming pools. The mechanical strength and resistance to detergents have been improved, to enable a longer service life. Styrofan PLUS 7552 also has an environmentally friendly profile: it is APEO Free and offers lower emissions.

BASF’s global supercomputer, “Quriosity”, has enabled new customized color care formulations in laundry applications. New detergent formulations are designed by Quriosity at an accelerated pace. Customized formulations reduce problems with color bleeding and dye transfer, meeting requirements of the next product generation for convenience-driven customers.

Innovative engine covers offer quiet and comfort for vehicles. Polyurethane (PU) integral foam solutions with an open cell structure offer unique performance as they are light-weight, with excellent sound insulation and flame resistance. Elastofoam PU solutions helps to make vehicles quieter and provide riders with a better experience inside the cabin.

Key Happenings in 2019

• BASF named a General Motors Supplier of the Year for 13th time
• BASF’s coatings solutions help NIO shape new generation of smart electric cars in China
• BASF invests in a state-of-the-art surface treatment site for its Chemetall brand in Pinghu, China
• BASF opens modular lab for automotive OEM coatings at its Münster site
• BASF introduces AUROOM, a platform for the digital visualization of automotive exterior colors
• Ten years of the Color Design Studio at BASF’s Münster site: Creative center for automotive colors of the future celebrates anniversary
• BASF and TGPM set new industry benchmark with premium Automotive Refinish Competence Center in Foshan, China
• BASF supports next generation of automotive refinishers at the global WorldSkills competition.

Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

BASF Coatings is a division of BASF SE.  BASF’s Coatings division develops, produces and markets innovative automotive coatings, automotive refinishes and industrial coatings as well as decorative paints. BASF Coatings operate sites in Europe, North America and South America as well as Asia Pacific. Within this network, the company collaborates closely with its customers all over the world. In 2017, the Coatings division achieved global sales of $4.6 billion. Europe represents 39 percent of total sales, Asia Pacific 24 percent, North America 22 percent and South America, Africa and the Middle East 15 percent.

Resource-saving refinish product line under the brand names Glasurit and R-M BASF’s Coatings division has launched new product lines in Europe for its Glasurit and R-M refinish paint brands that make automotive refinishing more sustainable. They are the world’s first refinish products manufactured according to the certified biomass balance approach, therefore contributing to reducing CO2 emissions.

Most recently launched new products:

• Chemetall becomes BASF’s new global brand for innovative surface treatment technologies
• BASF launches resource-saving refinish product line
• Award-winning coating technology from BASF improves the energy efficiency of vehicles
• BASF opens new automotive coatings plant in Shanghai
• BASF opens its first automotive coatings production plant in Thailand
• BASF supports young spray painters as a global WorldSkills competition sponsor
• BASF scores a double win for functional coatings technology at the International Motor Show (IAA)
• BASF wins GM Supplier of the Year award
• BASF invests $40 million in automotive coatings in North America.

BASF Opens its First Automotive Coatings Production Plant in Thailand

BASF’s Coatings division recently inaugurated a new automotive coatings plant at its Bangpoo manufacturing site, Samutprakarn province, Thailand. The new plant is the first BASF automotive coatings manufacturing facility in ASEAN, and will produce solvent-borne and waterborne automotive coatings to meet growing market demand in the region.

“BASF is a trusted partner of all major automotive manufacturers around the world, with broad competence in all coating layers,” said Dirk Bremm, president of BASF’s Coatings division. “The inauguration of the new plant demonstrates our commitment to meeting customer expectations for advanced coating technologies and products in ASEAN, for ASEAN.”

The new production plant in Bangpoo complements the facilities at the Coatings Technical Competence Center ASEAN, which was opened in September 2015 at the same location. The technical center includes a laboratory for product development, high-performance application facilities, color design, as well as a small batch production unit. The co-location of production and technical facilities enables operational efficiency and speed to market. The new plant’s design not only allows BASF to offer customized service, but it also has the potential for future expansion and the flexibility to adapt to new production requirements and changing industry trends.

BASF has been active in the automotive coatings industry in ASEAN for more than ten years. Today, BASF is the number one motorcycle coatings supplier in Thailand.

Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

BASF Coatings is a division of BASF SE.  BASF’s Coatings division develops, produces and markets innovative automotive coatings, automotive refinishes and industrial coatings as well as decorative paints. BASF Coatings operate sites in Europe, North America and South America as well as Asia Pacific. Within this network, the company collaborates closely with its customers all over the world. In 2015, the Coatings division achieved global sales of $3.607 billion. Europe represents 40 percent of total sales, Asia Pacific 23 percent, North America 18 percent and South America, Africa and Middle East 19 percent.

BASF and AkzoNobel have reached a general agreement on the sale of the industrial coatings business of BASF’s Coatings division to AkzoNobel for $541.206 million. The transaction would include technologies, patents and trademarks, as well as the transfer of two dedicated production sites, one in Deeside, England, and one in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa. BASF and AkzoNobel intend to finalize and sign detailed transaction documents in due course. The planned transaction is subject to the required consultation with employee representatives and certain regulatory approvals. BASF and AkzoNobel intend to complete the transaction by the end of 2016.

BASF’s industrial coatings business generated sales of approximately $341.814 million in 2015 and supplies products for a number of end uses, including coil, furniture foil and panel coatings, as well as coatings for wind energy plants, general industry and commercial transport. “We have successfully developed our global industrial coatings business over the last years with a clear focus on attractive market segments. To further develop the business, we see positive growth prospects under the umbrella of AkzoNobel, which is a leading global player in industrial coatings,” said Markus Kamieth, president of BASF’s Coatings division. With this transaction, BASF will further strengthen its focus on its core automotive OEM and automotive refinish coatings businesses as well as the leading decorative paints business with its brand Suvinil in Brazil.

BASF has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Guangdong Yinfan Chemistry Co., Ltd. in China. With this acquisition, BASF will establish a stronger coatings production footprint by gaining access to a state-of-the-art automotive refinish coatings plant in China. It will also enable BASF to broaden its automotive refinish portfolio in Asia Pacific by adding the Yinfan line of products to its successful global brands including Glasurit, R-M, baslac and Norbin.

“The acquisition underlines our strong commitment to growing our automotive coatings business and further investing in emerging markets,” said  Kamieth. “With this acquisition, we will broaden our portfolio and gain access to a strong distribution network, which will strengthen our position in the fast-growing Chinese automotive aftermarket.”

The closing is expected in the second half of 2016, subject to necessary regulatory, statutory and other approvals. Both parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.

Automotive Coating by BASF Honored with Design Award

BASF Coatings recently launched XSpark, an exclusive color effect for automotive OEM coatings that sparkles with particular brilliance in direct sunlight. Tiny glass particles that reflect light more precisely than other effect pigments are applied together with the paint layer in a single step. The resulting homogenous surface provides a pure solid-color reflection with particular depth, a complex paint effect that creates a high-quality, elegant-looking coating without being intrusive.

This innovation product has already won several international awards, including the prestigious Red Dot Award: Product Design.” For the first time in the 60-year history of the competition, an OEM automotive paint has been awarded the coveted “Red Dot.” The 38 jurors, all of whom are independent design experts, chose the winners from among the 4,928 submissions from all areas of industrial design. The evaluation criteria included the product’s degree of innovation, its durability and its symbolic and emotional content.

Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

BASF Coatings is a division of BASF SE.  BASF’s Coatings division develops, produces and markets innovative automotive coatings, automotive refinishes and industrial coatings as well as decorative paints. BASF Coatings operate sites in Europe, North America and South America as well as Asia Pacific. Within this network, the company collaborates closely with its customers all over the world. In 2014, the Coatings division achieved global sales of $3.57 billion. Europe represents 40 percent of total sales, Asia Pacific 22 percent, North America 22 percent and South America, Africa and Middle East 22 percent.

BASF is building a new resin and electrocoat (e-coat) plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Shanghai. With its operation scheduled to commence in the second half of 2015, the plant will help to address the increasing demand for high quality coatings solutions in various growing industries, notably the automotive industry, in Asia Pacific.

This new resin and e-coat plant will be located adjacent to another new BASF automotive coatings plant started operation in the second quarter of 2014. The close proximity of these two plants will allow for more synergies and efficiency.

BASF Coatings Services has also launched its first high-tech Refinish Competence Training Facility in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The new Refinish Competence Center (RCC) is the first facility of its kind to be established in the country by the company.

The new RCC, which expands BASF’s global network of Refinish Competence Centers, will offer customers an opportunity to learn, practice and fully master the use of BASF’s automotive refinish products. The training offerings will include courses on application techniques, the optimal use of paints as well as color matching. Training sessions and workshops have been developed and structured in order to enhance the productivity of bodyshops and to increase their efficiency and competitiveness. “The RCC Johannesburg enhances the Group’s global network of training centers and confirms our commitment to invest in areas where we operate,” said Harald Pflanzl, senior vice president Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions EMEA.

A significant number of trainees and business partners can be trained in the new facility which comprises two spray booths, two preparation-bays, two polish areas, as well as one meeting and two seminar rooms. Other added benefits of the establishment of this facility include the centralization of all products and services: the RCC, the warehouse, the color lab and the administrative department.

Training offerings are flexible in order to meet the specific training needs of the customers and programs can be tailor-made in modular format. Training seminars will take the spray painters’ level of knowledge into account and the training program is geared to the individual spray painter’s need.

BASF has established Refinish Competence Centers across the globe, spanning from Australia, China and the United States to France and Germany. The training network comprises more than 50 training centers, where painters practice and perfect the use of automotive paints.

BASF Opens New Automotive Coatings Plant in Shanghai

BASF Shanghai Coatings Co., Ltd. inaugurated its new automotive coatings plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Shanghai, China. The expansion of its automotive coatings production capacity with an investment of approximately €50 million further strengthens BASF’s presence in China and its position as a leading coatings supplier to the automotive industry

The plant is equipped with state-of-the-art ventilation and off gas treatment, ensuring a clean environment in and around the plant. In addition, it is specially designed to have a closed handling of ingredients. “Our new plant is designed according to the latest and most environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and technologies,” said Peter Fischer, senior vice president, Coatings Solutions Asia Pacific, BASF. “Our innovative processes and high-performance automotive coatings help our customers to achieve their efficiency targets and to stay competitive.”

The new automotive coatings plant is located adjacent to another new BASF resin and electrocoat plant which will start operation in the second half of 2015. The close proximity of these two plants with access to facilities of BASF Caojing site and the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park will allow greater synergies and operational efficiency.

BASF Shanghai Coatings Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between BASF Group and Shanghai Huayi Fine Chemical Co., Ltd., with more than 17 years of partnership.

Markets Served: Automotive OEM, Automotive refinish, Commercial vehicles, Decorative coatings, Industrial coatings

BASF Coatings is a division of BASF SE.  BASF’s Coatings division develops, produces and markets innovative automotive coatings, automotive refinishes and industrial coatings as well as decorative paints. BASF Coatings operate sites in Europe, North America and South America as well as Asia Pacific. Within this network, the company collaborates closely with its customers all over the world. In 2013, the Coatings division achieved global sales of $3.95 billion.

BASF has invested approximately $3.4 million in its Demarchi coatings site, located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, to expand its capacity to service Brazil’s automotive industry with waterborne automotive coatings.

The goal is to meet market demands generated by new car makers setting up their plants in the country and by the trend of using waterborne technology rather than solvent-borne. BASF is the pioneer in developing waterborne basecoats for the automotive industry. The technology is eco-efficient because water replaces most of the organic solvents.

In addition to the traditional clients such as GM, Volkswagen, Fiat and PSA, and a strong presence in the segment of coatings for trucks, BASF has in the past years conquered new supply contracts, which include car makers such as Hyundai and Chery.

Another trend in the market is the use of integrated processes where the paintline is shortened by one step. This means that less material, time and energy are used. At the same time, the same application quality can be achieved.

In South America, BASF has two plants where automotive coatings are produced, one in Demarchi, Brazil, and the other in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In 2013, Brazil was the fourth biggest car sales market in the world and on the seventh place worldwide as car producer, according to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA).

BASF is expanding its business in industrial coatings in the growth market of Africa. Since October 2013, the company has supplied coil coatings to Roofings Rolling Mills (RRM), located in Uganda. BASF and its technical service were also on hand when the new coil coating lines were put into operation.

RRM is part of the Roofings Group, East Africa’s largest steel producer. At its site in Namanve Industrial Park, RRM operates three production lines with an annual capacity of 240,000 metric tons. BASF has supplied a Pevicoat® mixing unit, based on site at RRM. The Pevicoat unit is a computer-assisted paint mixing system that can mix any color and gloss level within a very short time.

Coil coatings are used to coat aluminum and steel coils before they are processed further into an array of different products in the construction, household appliance and automotive industries. These products range from refrigerators to building façades. Since the panels are stamped, rolled and joined, the coating has to be extremely flexible and elastic so that it does not flake off. At the same time, however, it has to meet the requirements for scratch resistance.

RRM has invested $125 million in the site in Uganda, including for the coil coating line. The company also acquired technical support from its Japanese partner Yodogawa Steel Works and uses its technologies. Yodogawa Steel Works has produced coated coils for 75 years.

BASF Supplies Paints for Innovative Electric Car

BASF and BMW have once again teamed up, this time for the i3, the BMW Group’s first model driven entirely  by electric power. BASF is supplying basecoats in four colors for the new i3 production line at the BMW plant in Leipzig. The i3 was launched in November 2013.

With the paints, BASF is contributing to the i3’s unique design, which is exceptionally clean, reduced but, at the same time, dynamic. The i3 has another special feature that also extends to the coating: The passenger compartment is made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP). “We are very pleased to be a partner of the BMW Group also for this innovative model. Driving sustainable solutions is one of BASF’s strategic principles,” said Dr. Alexander Haunschild, head of Automotive OEM Coatings Europe at BASF.

The car consists of a CFRP body-in-white on which the coated plastic add-on parts are mounted. This concept means new challenges for the coating of the add-on parts and for the associated application processes. BASF’s many years of experience in coating add-on parts has paid off. Frank Naber, BASF’s Account Manager for BMW Europe, explained: “Our laboratory teams joined forces with the BMW Group to develop a coating for the special construction of the i3. In Leipzig, we also provide technical field service on site on a daily basis.”

BASF has been a supplier for the BMW plant in Leipzig since its start-up in 2005 and provides the automotive manufacturer with modern paint systems worldwide.