Overview
- BASF’s Zhanjiang complex, formally opened Thursday, is the company’s largest single investment at €8.7 billion.
- The site has produced since November for customers in China and employs about 2,000 people, with a goal of roughly €1 billion in annual pre-tax profit starting next year.
- A steam cracker at the core of the plant breaks oil or gas into small molecules used for plastics and other chemicals, and BASF says it can shift toward butane to keep running as Strait of Hormuz turmoil tightens naphtha supplies.
- BASF touts lower emissions at the site through 100% renewable power and an on-site deep-sea port for supply resilience, while coverage notes heavy Chinese overcapacity and weak prices that pressure margins.
- The expansion has drawn fire in Germany as BASF cuts costs and jobs in Ludwigshafen and moves some office roles to India, even as the government urges firms to reduce reliance on China.