BASF opens Electronic Materials R&D Center in Ansan, South Korea

• Leveraging BASF Korea’s ‘Innovation Hub’ Ansan to enable close collaboration with local semiconductor customers and co-development partners
• Focusing on most advanced semiconductor materials development for leading AI and memory chips

Seoul, South Korea– April 7, 2025 – On April 4, 2025, BASF has opened a new Electronic Materials R&D Center in Ansan, South Korea. To enhance its research and development efficiency, BASF expanded and relocated its previous R&D center from Suwon to a brand-new three-story facility at the company’s Ansan site in Gyeonggi Province, near Seoul.

To address the increasing technological and quality demands of advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes, BASF’s Electronic Materials Business focuses on the development of performance materials for semiconductor applications, including cleaning, photo, and metallization chemicals, at its new facility in Korea.

BASF Ansan site has become BASF Korea’s Innovation Complex with the establishment of the new Electronic Materials R&D center, and being already home to the Consumer Electronics Competency Center (CECC), Engineering Plastics Innovation Center (EPIC) Korea, and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) technology center. BASF anticipates, this new innovation complex will leverage many synergies and enable significantly closer collaboration among the BASF units based at the Ansan site.

“This facility will significantly enhance our R&D efficiency, enabling us to engage in deeper collaborations with our customers in Korea to co-create advanced semiconductor material solutions in the Angstrom age of scaling. The opportunities for innovation and progress are incredibly promising, and I am confident this will help us reach new heights in our research and development efforts with our customers,” said Dr. Lothar Laupichler, Senior Vice President, Electronic Materials at BASF.

“The expansion and relocation of the Electronic Materials R&D Center is part of our continuous efforts to enhance our global research and development capabilities for next-generation semiconductors materials development to drive our business for leading chip technologies in key markets,” said Jens Liebermann, Vice President Semiconductor Materials, BASF. It will be a catalyst for strengthening South Korea's R&D capabilities in the semiconductor and electronic materials industries.

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.

About BASF in Korea 

Global chemical company BASF has been a key player in Korea since entering market in 1954. As a leading foreign company in Korea’s chemical industry, BASF operates eight large-scale production sites across the country. Additionally, the company runs advanced Performance Materials and Electronic Materials R&D Centers, along with two technical centers focused on Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE), Polyurethane, and Personal Care. In 2024, BASF records approximately € 1.1 billion in sales to customers in Korea and employed 1,240 people as of the end of the year. Further information is available on www.basf.com.