BASF has opened its ASEAN Technical Development Center adjacent to its existing polyurethane (PU) system house at its Bangpoo site in Thailand. The new facility houses a pre-polymer reactor to produce hardeners (component B) that are key components to boost product development efficiency, thereby enabling faster time to market of PU materials and solutions.

The advanced reactor technology is further designed to deliver on a much larger capacity, meeting most demanding customer requirements across all grades. The new pre-polymer reactor technology is additionally capable of developing customized PU system products, which helps improve the commercialization of these specialized solutions.

The ASEAN Technical Development Center also boasts several new service upgrades, such as more advanced testing and software capabilities. With the new pre-polymer reactor technology, the ASEAN Technical Center strengthens and complements BASF’s technical support network in China, Korea, and Germany.

“Through the ASEAN Technical Development Center, we are better positioned to support our customers and help them capitalize on growth opportunities in ASEAN across key industries and applications,” said Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF. “Together with the expanded polyurethane system house, we are demonstrating our commitment to ASEAN, with even more reliable supply, as well as technical expertise and innovation  capabilities.”

BASF previously increased the production capacity of its polyurethane system house in Bangpoo as part of a move to better meet the growing demand across automotive, consumer, construction, and industrial markets in ASEAN. With a total production area of 2,700 m2, the redesigned system house includes additional mixing vessels, reactors, and storage tanks.

The ASEAN car market by production volume continues to grow with differentiated products and emerging applications. Thailand and Indonesia are among the largest automotive industries in Southeast Asia, while Vietnam is already one of the world’s largest footwear exporters, and its industry is expected to grow as more manufacturers are relocating their manufacturing base there.