Ludwigshafen, Germany - BASF has opened a polyurethanes specialties site in Pudong, Shanghai, following investment of a mid-sized double-digit million-dollar sum.The site will operate under the name BASF Polyurethanes Specialties (China) Co. Ltd. It will house a production development centre, a 30 kilo tonnes per annum system house and an 18-ktpa TPU (thermoplastic polyurethanes) production plant."Our local customers are set to benefit from closer support on new applications technology, shorter delivery times and a higher level of technical service," said Dr John Feldmann, BASF member responsible for plastics, in a 13 June statement.According the company's statement, the new site will use cost advantages provided by the regional production 'Verbund' for polyurethanes: materials such as MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) and TDI (toluene diisocyanate) needed to produce specialties in Pudong, will be supplied from BASF's $100 million isocyanates facility in Caojing, which started up in mid-2006.BASF believes that China's polyurethane market will grow at about ten percent a year for the next five-to-ten years and this is "a long-term investment" for the company, said its spokesperson in a 13 June telephone conversation.ss"
