Systems house for Bangpoo

is continuing on its growth path with polyurethane specialties in Asia by establishing its 29th system house worldwide at its site in

.

From the first quarter of 2006, the plant will produce tailor-made polyurethane systems in close co-operation with customers from industries such as the footwear, appliances, automotive and construction sectors. Approval for the project is currently being sought from Thai authorities. Financial details were not disclosed.

“Our new system house in Thailand is a further building block to strengthen our leading position in polyurethanes in the Asian growth market,” said Jean-Pierre Dhanis, President of BASF’s Polyurethanes division.

BASF said in a statement that its customers would benefit from the advantages offered by BASF’s regional polyurethane Verbund in Asia. In Caojing, Shanghai, BASF and its partners are planning to start up world-scale production plants for the polyurethane basic products MDI (diphenylmethane diisocyanate) and TDI (toluene diisocyanate) in 2006.

In neighbouring Pudong, Shanghai, BASF is also currently establishing a regional centre for polyurethane specialties. The Pudong project consists of a system house, a production plant for thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) and a Technical Research & Development Centre.

During the next 10 years, the market for polyurethanes in Thailand is expected to grow annually by around six percent. Today, Thailand already accounts for 40 percent of the polyurethanes market in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region.

In Asia, BASF already operates system houses in

,

,

,

and

. In addition to its capital expenditure project in Pudong,

, BASF acquired the system houses Foam Enterprises in the

and Lagomat in

in 2004.