BASF plant opens in UIC

BASF‘s commitment to the attractive South African market was recently heightened with the investment in a new Dispersions Plant in Durban.
The inauguration of the new BASF Dispersions Plant, located in the industrial area of Umbogintwini took place on Monday, September 3.
Over 150 guests, including governmental dignitaries, key customers and stakeholders as well as BASF VIPs attended this milestone event.
The function included a site visit with an informative plant tour and a closing function at the Hilton Hotel in Durban.
Dr Dieter Kovar, Head of Business Centre South Africa and Sub-Sahara, together with Dr Christoph Hansen, Senior Vice President Dispersions at BASF SE hosted the function.
Michael Heinz, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, officially opened the manufacturing site.
He specifically acknowledged the South African government’s Department of Trade and Industry for their support within their Enterprise Investment Programme, as well as the local municipality and provincial government for expediting the various legal requirements and permits essential to building the production site.
Minister of Economic Development and Tourism of KwaZulu-Natal, Michael Mabuyakhulu, responded by welcoming BASF to the region.
“As government, we believe companies such as BASF have an important role to play in ensuring that the industry takes its rightful position within the South African economy.
We also believe that BASF’s presence in KwaZulu-Natal will go a long way in assisting government’s efforts to build a knowledge-based economy. BASF is renowned globally for its expertise and innovations,” said the minister.
Other speakers at the event included the Deputy Mayor of eThekwini, Councillor Nomvuso Shabala, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to South Africa, Dr Horst Freitag, Plant Manager Kay Govender, and Project Engineer Bart Manders.
Durban was selected as the location for this investment due to its excellent port facilities for importing raw materials and exporting finished goods.
In support of BASF’s strategy, establishing a presence in the KZN province also allows the company to be close to its customers in this region, which will further strengthen partnerships and enable it to fully tap into local potential and help customers to be more successful.
As a result of the advanced dispersion technology at this new production facility, BASF will now be able to offer an innovative portfolio of acrylic dispersions for the coatings and construction industries while serving its customers in South Africa as well as in the Sub-Saharan region.
“With the opening of the dispersions plant in Durban, BASF meets a very important milestone in our Africa strategy, which is to double our sales in Africa by 2020.” said Mr Heinz.