BASF (D-67056 Ludwigshafen; www.basf.com) continues to reinforce its position in the Asian polyurethanes (PU) sector. The group will establish its 29th PU system house at Bangpoo / Thailand in the first quarter of 2006. The facility will work closely with customers to produce tailor-made PU products for a range of applications in the footwear, appliances, automotive and construction sectors, BASF said.

The new system house will also cooperate with a technical research and development centre for PU specialties BASF is setting up at Pudong, near Shanghai – incorporating a system house, production facilities for thermoplastic polyurethanes and a research and development facility.

At Caojing, also near Shanghai, the German chemicals and plastics giant and its partners will start up world-scale production plants for PU feedstocks MDI and TDI in 2006. BASF predicts 5% annual growth for the Thai PU market over the next 10 years. Thailand currently accounts for 40% of the ASEAN regional market.