BASF breaks ground on methyl glycols plant at Zhanjiang Verbund site in China

• Product serves fast-growing demand for modern brake fluids in China
• First fully backward integrated methyl glycols plant in China upon completion
• World-scale production facility expected to start up in 2025

Hong Kong SAR, China – March 21, 2024 – BASF has broken ground on a methyl glycols (MG) plant at its Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. The new facility is designed with an annual capacity of 46,000 metric tons and aims to meet the rapidly growing demand for brake fluids in the region. The plant is scheduled to commence operations by the end of 2025.

“The new facility will be the only fully backward integrated methyl glycols plant into a steam cracker in China, serving the fast-growing brake fluids market,” said Bir Darbar Mehta, Senior Vice President, Petrochemicals Asia Pacific, BASF. “Utilizing BASF's unique process technology, the plant will deliver reliable, competitive and high-quality products to cater to the needs of our downstream business and customers.”

“As a strong player in the automotive fluids industry, BASF built a reputation for delivering high-performance products and exceptional services to our valued partners in the brake fluid industry,” said Matthias Lang, Vice President, Business Management Fuel & Lubricant Solutions Asia Pacific and Performance Chemicals Greater China, BASF. “The capacity expansion demonstrates our commitment to the emerging Asian automotive industry, especially in China, where the demand for high-quality products is continuously increasing.”

The new methyl glycols plant will produce methyl diglycol (MDG), methyl triglycol (MTG), and methyl tetraglycol (MTEG) from methanol and purified ethylene oxide (PEO). Methyl triglycol is the primary raw material for the production of modern brake fluids used in the automotive industry.

About BASF’s Petrochemicals division

The Petrochemicals division is the starting point for BASF’s petrochemical-based value chains globally. We operate a highly competitive asset base with best-in-class technologies and set the benchmark in safety, sustainability, operational excellence and cost competitiveness. With six Verbund sites and several major production sites, we are close to our customers and present in the largest chemical markets worldwide. The division supplies various value chains across the company and a broad range of customer industries with high-quality chemicals, putting our customers in the center of everything we do and contributing to the organic volume growth of BASF. Our portfolio includes cracker products, industrial gases, acrylics, superabsorbent polymers, styrenic foams, alkylene oxides, glycols, alcohols, solvents and plasticizers. In 2023, the Petrochemicals division generated sales to third parties of about €7.4 billion. Further information is available online at http://petrochemicals.basf.com.

About the global business unit Fuel and Lubricant Solutions of BASF

The global business unit fuel and lubricant solutions is a leading supplier to the transportation and mineral oil industries worldwide. Offerings cover fuel performance packages, refinery additives, polyisobutenes, engine coolants (Glysantin® brand), and brake fluids as well as lubricant additives, finished lubricants, synthetic base stocks, and components for metalworking fluids. The business unit has its main facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Cincinnati and Florham Park in the USA, Nanjing and Shanghai in China, as well as Sao Paulo, Brazil. Research and development are mainly driven out of Ludwigshafen, Germany, Tarrytown, USA, and Shanghai, China. Further information is available on the Internet at  www.basf.com/fuel-lubricant-solutions.

BASF fuel and lubricant solutions is part of BASF’s Performance Chemicals division. The division’s portfolio also includes plastic additives, oilfield chemicals, and mining solutions. Customers from a variety of industries including Chemical, Plastic, Consumer Goods, Energy & Resources, and Automotive & Transportation benefit from our innovative solutions. To learn more, visit /www.performancechemicals.basf.com.

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €68.9 billion in 2023. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com.