Views: 3 Author: ChemVoice Publish Time: 2025-10-10 Origin: ChemVoice
Following its announcement on 24 September to exit the bisulphite business and close the associated production facility in Ludwigshafen, BASF has recently completed two major business divestments, while its new project in Zhanjiang has also received regulatory approval.
1.Completion of Brazilian Decorative Coatings Business Sale
The sale of BASF's Brazilian decorative coatings business to Sherwin-Williams was finalised on 1 October 2025. The transaction, valued at US$1.15 billion (approximately RMB 8.187 billion) on a cash and debt-free basis, represents the largest single merger and acquisition deal in the global coatings industry in 2025. It encompasses the production sites in Demarchi and Jaboatão, associated contracts, and the Suvinil and Glasu! It is understood that BASF's decorative coatings business generated sales of approximately US$525 million in 2024. As its sole major B2C operation, it was almost entirely Brazil-based with limited synergies to BASF's other coatings businesses.
2.Completion of Food & Health Functional Ingredients Business Sale
BASF has finalised the sale of its Food & Health Functional Ingredients business to Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC). The transaction reportedly includes a production site in Illertissen, Germany, three application laboratories outside Germany, and approximately 300 employees. The specific transaction value remains undisclosed. The transaction encompasses: - Food performance ingredients, including whipping agents, emulsifiers and fat powders; - Health ingredients such as phytosterol esters, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and Omega-3 oils for human nutrition; - Several smaller product lines. Through this strategic move, BASF aims to optimise its portfolio and support priority market growth in nutrition and health (focusing on vitamins and carotenoids, among others).
3.BASF's 30,000-tonne TDN project in Zhanjiang receives approval
On 22 September, the Zhanjiang Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau announced its approval decision for the environmental impact assessment documents of BASF Integrated Base (Guangdong) Co., Ltd.'s 30,000-tonne-per-year tridecane diol (TDN) facility project.
The project will commence construction within the reserved site of BASF's integrated project at Donghai Island Petrochemical Industrial Park in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, occupying an area of 11,500 square metres. It involves constructing a new TDN unit with a design capacity of 30,000 tonnes per annum, alongside supporting facilities including a di-dodecene unloading facility, TDN loading arms, and a 10kV substation. Utility infrastructure will utilise existing facilities from BASF (Guangdong) Integrated Project. The total investment amounts to RMB 680 million, with approximately RMB 56 million allocated to new environmental protection facilities. Construction is scheduled for completion and commencement of operations in 2028, with an estimated construction period of 22 months.
The project will utilise purchased synthesis gas and hydrogen produced by the Isododecene Integrated Project as feedstock. Upon completion, it will supply critical raw materials to the Non-Ionic Surfactant (NIS) unit within the BASF Integrated Base, diversifying the downstream product portfolio and enhancing competitiveness. Isododecyl alcohol is a synthetic alcohol featuring a unique branched-chain structure. This distinctive configuration confers exceptional performance across diverse applications, including low foaming, rapid defoaming, acid/alkali resistance, and corrosion resistance. It finds extensive use in industrial cleaners, textile treatment agents, personal and household care products, coatings and inks, cosmetics, lubricants, antioxidants, and UV-curable materials. In recent years, with increasingly stringent environmental requirements, the application of Isododecane has become more widespread. It is projected that the global Isododecane market will grow at an annual rate of approximately 4.0% between 2024 and 2030, with demand in the Chinese market continuing to rise. The production of isododecane presents significant technical barriers, with manufacturing capacity predominantly concentrated among enterprises in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Key producers include ExxonMobil (USA), BASF (Germany), Evonik (Germany), KH Chemical (Japan), and Sasol (South Africa). Foreign enterprises, having established an early market presence with advanced technology and large-scale production, hold significant positions in the global isodecyl alcohol market. It is understood that China's Wanhua Chemical currently possesses production technology converting by-products from hydroformylation reactions into α-TIB for isodecyl alcohol synthesis. Upon commissioning, BASF's project is expected to alter China's reliance on imported high-end isodecyl alcohol, thereby enabling downstream surfactant enterprises to achieve cost savings and enhance market competitiveness.
Recently, the ethylene unit and the first batch of acrylic acid and ester facilities (including two 190,000-tonne/year glacial acrylic acid units and a 400,000-tonne/year butyl acrylate unit) at BASF's integrated base project achieved mechanical completion. The polyethylene unit successfully passed the intermediate handover, marking the project's transition from construction to commissioning preparation. Furthermore, following the signing of an agreement with Bardfu, BASF's Zhanjiang integrated base will supply butyl acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate to Bardfu.
Additionally, the site's construction scope includes:
A 660/830/200 ktpa EO/EG/PEO unit
A 215 ktpa nonionic surfactants unit
A 500 ktpa polyethylene unit
A 100 ktpa 2-ethylhexyl acrylate unit
A 500 ktpa oxo-alcohols unit
A 50,000 Nm³/h synthesis gas unit
An 80 ktpa (100% basis) neopentyl glycol unit
A 110 ktpa formaldehyde unit
A 40 ktpa citral unit, among others.
Using naphtha, normal butane, etc., as feedstocks, the project will produce ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylene, pyrolysis fuel oil, isobutene, and various downstream products.
