Chemical firm BASF opens its new integrated site in Zhanjiang, southern China, on Thursday. CEO Markus Kamieth views raw material supply as secure despite the Iran war and Hormuz Strait blockade.
Amid a new oil crisis, BASF launches its third-largest integrated site after Ludwigshafen and Antwerp. The company invested 8.7 billion euros in the Zhanjiang facility. It aims to supply Chinese customers. Kamieth rejected claims of shifting capacities from Germany. The site has a technological edge: instead of naphtha, an oil derivative, it can switch to gas like butane from diverse sources, not the Middle East. „No shortages so far,“ Kamieth said in Peking. „We source these from various places, but not the Middle East.“ BASF could benefit short-term from competitors' supply issues. Kamieth acknowledged lower-than-expected margins in China. „Lower than we originally thought,“ he said. The reason is fierce price competition. Still, China remains the market offering the most growth for the industry.