Zhanjiang

About BASF Zhanjiang Verbund site

Built and operated under the sole responsibility of BASF. The Zhanjiang Verbund site is BASF’s largest investment and ultimately BASF’s third-largest site worldwide (following Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium)

Location: Zhanjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Guangdong

Key milestones:

• MoU signed in Berlin in July 2018
• Commencement of the Verbund site project in November 2019
• Started piling of the first plants in May 2020
• Announced the inauguration of the first plant producing Engineering Plastics in September 2022
• Started the full construction of the core of the Verbund since September 2022
• Announced the inauguration of the second plant producing thermoplastic polyurethanes in January 2024, marking the successful conclusion of the initial construction phase
• Officially inaugurated Verbund Technology Center in February 2024
• Production of the first products from the core of the Verbund commenced in November 2025
• As the heart of the Verbund, the steam cracker was successfully started up in January 2026

Investment: Around €8.7 billion in total

Plants and products:

• 20 production facilities covering 34 production lines
• The world's first steam cracker using 100% renewable energy to drive its main compressors (eDrives), with an annual ethylene capacity of 1 million metric tons
• Multiple downstream plants producing petrochemicals, intermediates, and other products
• Serve as a role model of smart manufacturing and sustainable production in China and globally, with the entire site to be 100% powered by renewable electricity