BASF will strengthen its local production capability for waterborne and solventborne coatings in Thailand by building a new manufacturing facility at its Bangpoo site.

The new production facility complements the facilities at the new Coatings Technical Competence Center ASEAN, which was opened in September 2015 and includes a laboratory for product development, performance testing, color design, as well as a small batch production unit. The expansion will better serve the strong demand from the expanding automotive industry in ASEAN.

“ASEAN is a growing market for the automotive industry and it is also strategically important to BASF’s coatings business in the region,” said Peter Fischer, senior vice president, Coatings Solutions Asia Pacific. “Recognizing the potential in ASEAN, we have been active in the automotive coatings industry there for more than ten years with a particularly strong foothold in Thailand. This commitment has made us the number one motorcycle coatings supplier in Thailand. We now are stepping up our investment to serve not only motorcycle, but also car customers with our best service and our high quality, efficient, sustainable coatings solutions, including our integrated process technology.”

In 2015, the total annual car production in ASEAN was 3.8 million units (source: LMC Automotive April 2016). Thailand is the region’s hub and represents the largest coatings market within ASEAN, followed by Indonesia and Malaysia.

“Our growth and investment plans go hand in hand with our customers’ expansion plans. With increasing number of car and motorcycle OEMs engaging in production and marketing activities in ASEAN, it’s our top priority to provide a high degree of technical service and to increase our local supply capability in order to satisfy their needs for innovative coatings solutions and products. Going forward, we will continue to strengthen our presence in ASEAN and also invest in doubling the number of technical and customer servicing experts in the next few years to improve our customers’ expectation and experience,” said Gecha Ritvirulh, director, Coatings Solutions ASEAN, BASF.