Ludwigshafen (Germany): BASF, a German chemical giant, has announced an investment in its polymer dispersion production center located in Merak, Indonesia. The decision comes in response to the growing popularity of high-quality packaging materials within the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The new production facility is expected to be operational by the second half of 2021 and will enable BASF to provide additional styrene-butadiene dispersions. This move reflects the growth of paper mills in South-East Asia and Oceania, thereby furthering BASF's commitment to offer their customers reliable quality assurance and improved performance standards.

Bir Darbar Mehta, senior vice-president for BASF Asia-Pacific dispersions, declared: “The expansion will bring additional supply reliability to fulfil the growing demand for acrylics and styrene-butadiene dispersions in the South-East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand markets.

“It shows our commitment to enhancing regional production and providing quick responses to fulfil growing customer demand.

“It also reinforces BASF’s position as one of the leading and reliable suppliers in the region.

“With proximity to key raw materials and flexibility to produce both styrene-butadiene and acrylic dispersions, Merak remains a key supply point for all our customers, especially in the area of paper coatings.”

Established in 1994, the Merak site of BASF has been producing polymer dispersions for a variety of uses – from paper coatings to architectural applications and construction projects. On-site jetty and proximity to monomer suppliers and customers make logistics easy.

The Dispersions & Resins division of BASF is a global provider of polymer dispersions, resins, additives, and electronic materials. These raw materials are used widely across multiple industries such as coatings, construction, adhesives, printing and packaging, electronics, and paper.

The wide variety of raw materials supplied by BASF's Dispersions & Resins division are used across many industries - coatings, construction, adhesives, printing and packaging, electronics, and paper. With its headquarters in Ludwigshafen, the company currently employs 111,000 colleagues with reported sales of €78.6bn ($85.4bn) in 2021.

Last month, BASF partnered with functional packaging provider StePac to create sustainable packaging for the fresh produce sector. StePac will be supplied by Ultramid Ccycled - a chemically recycled polyamide 6 specifically designed to make contact-sensitive packaging more sustainable.