In order to expand a joint facility in Nanjing, southern Chinato, BASF and Chinese partner Sinopec will invest around $1.4 billion, BASF said on July 7.
The project got a green light from the Chinese government on July 1 and will use cutting edge technology to make products for the construction, electronics, pharmaceutical, automotive and chemical engineering sectors.
In particular, it will expand a steam cracker's capacity to 740,000 metric tons of ethylene per year from the current level of 600,000.
The joint venture BASF-YPC, which began in 2000, will build 10 new chemical plants and expand three existing ones.
"The expansion of BYC underscores our strong belief in the growth opportunities of the Chinese market and is another milestone in cooperative development," BASF Asia Pacific director Martin Brudermueller said.
For Wang Tianpu, president of Sinopec: "The expansion conforms with Chinas revitalization plan for the petrochemical industry, fosters the integration of BYC, broadens the portfolio of downstream products in Nanjing, meets the increasing demands in the East China region, and promotes the upgrading of Chinas petrochemical industry."
The expanded plants are to begin operations in 2011.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
