Overview
- The new Zhanjiang site is scheduled to open Thursday and marks BASF’s largest single investment to date.
- BASF expects profitability in the first years to fall well below earlier plans because the market is oversupplied and prices and margins are at historic lows.
- The complex is positioned to become BASF’s third-largest production site, after Ludwigshafen and Antwerp.
- Management says the plant will not replace recently closed units in Ludwigshafen and that no production is being shifted to China.
- The project, initiated under former CEO Martin Brudermüller in 2020, continues to face criticism over China exposure following Russia-related write-downs.