BASF and SINOPEC agree to invest US$500 mln for expansion at Nanjing

11-Jul-06

BASF and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC Corp.) have inked a US$500 million (4 billion RMB) agreement for the expansion of their JV at Nanjing - BASF-YPC Co. Ltd. The investments will be split equally between the partners. The expansion will involve a 25% increase in cracker capacity and an expansion of downstream capacities. The expansion, estimated to come onstream in 2009, will include: * Expansion of steam cracker from 600,000 tpa to 750,000 tpa of ethylene * Expansion of the ethylene oxide (EO) plant and development of EO derivatives * Development of the C4 value chain: Butadiene and isobutene as chemical raw materials, 2-propylheptanol for a new generation plasticizer and polyisobutene derivatives as fuel and lubricant additives * Extension of the acrylics value chain to produce super absorbent polymers (SAP) for hygiene and industrial applications. Integration of their second joint operation Yangzi-BASF Styrenics (YBS) in Nanjing into BASF-YPC Co. Ltd. has also been agreed upon. This integration will increase efficiency and utilize existing synergies. BASF aims to generate 10% of its global sales and earnings at its chemicals business in China by 2010.