BASF achieves mechanical completion for acrylics complex at Zhanjiang Verbund site

• Mechanical completion reached for Glacial Acrylic Acid (GAA) and Butyl Acrylate (BA) plants 
• World-scale facilities are on track for commissioning and start-up in 2025

Hong Kong SAR, China – July 21, 2025 – BASF has reached a major construction milestone at the Zhanjiang Verbund site with the successful mechanical completion of the first batch of plants in the acrylics complex, including the glacial acrylic acid (GAA) and butyl acrylate (BA) plants. This achievement marks a significant step toward the site’s scheduled start-up in 2025, further strengthening BASF's position as a global leader in the acrylics market. 

“The acrylics business has been a cornerstone of BASF Petrochemicals. With the completion of the new acrylics complex in Zhanjiang, we are further enhancing our production capacities along the acrylics value chain,” said Bir Darbar Mehta, Senior Vice President of Petrochemicals Asia Pacific at BASF. “These new world-scale production facilities will allow us to meet the fast-growing demand for acrylics in China and across Asia with a reliable supply of high-quality, competitive products and shorter lead times.”

"Since breaking ground in 2023, our team has been committed to upholding the highest safety and quality standards throughout construction and mechanical completion while achieving excellent progress,” said Han Liang, Vice President of Industrial Petrochemicals Operations for Petrochemicals Asia Pacific at BASF. “We have now moved into the commissioning and start-up phase, and we are confident in commencing operations in 2025, delivering superior value to our customers across the region.” 

Acrylic acid is an important precursor for the production of superabsorbent polymers. Butyl acrylate, an ester of acrylic acid, is widely used in the production of adhesives, architectural coatings, and industrial coatings. The acrylics complex at the Zhanjiang Verbund site is planned to come on stream by 2025, with an annual production capacity of approximately 400,000 metric tons of BA.

Background information on BASF’s new Verbund site in Zhanjiang

The Zhanjiang Verbund site will be BASF’s largest investment to date with around €10 billion upon completion. It will be operated under the sole responsibility of BASF and will be the company’s third-largest Verbund site worldwide, following Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.
 
About BASF’s Petrochemicals division

The Petrochemicals division is the starting point for BASF’s petrochemical-based value chains globally. We operate a highly competitive asset base with best-in-class technologies and set the benchmark in safety, sustainability, operational excellence and cost competitiveness. With six Verbund sites and several major production sites, we are close to our customers and present in the largest chemical markets worldwide. The division supplies various value chains across the company and a broad range of customer industries with high-quality chemicals, putting our customers in the center of everything we do and contributing to the organic volume growth of BASF. Our portfolio includes cracker products, industrial gases, acrylics, superabsorbent polymers, styrenic foams, alkylene oxides, glycols, alcohols, solvents and plasticizers. In 2024, the Petrochemicals division generated sales to third parties of about €8 billion. Further information is available online at http://petrochemicals.basf.com. 

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. Our ambition: We want to be the preferred chemical company to enable our customers’ green transformation. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises, as core businesses, the segments Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, and Nutrition & Care; our standalone businesses are bundled in the segments Surface Technologies and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €65.3 billion in 2024. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com.