Reacting to growing demand from the transportation and footwear sectors, BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) is redesigning and expanding its polyurethanes systems house in Bangpoo / Thailand and plans to make the site its ASEAN hub for this business. The upgrade, for which no investment sum has been named, will add mixing vessels, reactors and storage tanks and take floor space to 2,700 m². The number of employees will increase slightly to 26.

In 2015, Thailand had the largest automotive industry in southeast Asia, accounting for almost half of the 3.8m cars produced in ASEAN last year, BASF said. The trade area’s automotive market is expected to experience growth of about 30% up to 2022. Vietnam, which can be supplied from the Thai site, has become a magnet for the footwear industry, with around 11% of the world’s production now located in the country, said Andy Postlethwaite, senior vice president at BASF Performance Materials Asia Pacific. The German group expects both markets to continue to grow with new products and applications.

BASF’s other PU systems houses in Asia-Pacific are located at Yeosu and Ulsan / South Korea, Shinshiro / Japan, Shanghai, Tianjin and Nansha / China, as well as Dahej and Thane / India.