Nanjing, Jiangsu – A bigger integrated petrochemical site for BASF and Sinopec moved closer on 29 October when the companies announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding.
BASF-YPC Nanjing site to grow
Brudermueller
The companies committed to a new 1 MT ethylene/year steam cracker which will support a number of downstream projects. A joint pre-feasibility study is underway.
BASF-YPC, the existing joint venture, and YPC, a subsidiary of Sinopec, will jointly fund the investment. Both BASF-YPC and YPC will have access to the cracker's output.
'This additional investment … underlines the commitment to our customers in China,' said Martin Brudermueller, BASF's chairman.
'We intend to create further value by extending this partnership,' said Dai Hou-Liang, chairman at Sinpec.
The BASF-YPC joint venture was founded in 2000. Overall, total investment in the site has now reached $5.2bn. It makes about 3 MT/year product, and it had sales of about CNY 21 bn ($3 bn) in 2017.
This is the German company's second large announcement this year concerning increased capacity in China. In July, the company said it was going to invest in its wholly owned site in Guangzhou. A spokesman confirmed that it is still set to build a verbund site here.
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