BASF is going to expand its production capacity for waterborne coatings in the Demarchi Coatings Site, located in São Paulo state, Brazil. The €2 million investment will increase its capacity of both waterborne primer and basecoats. The expansion is expected to be finished in early 2014.

The primer smooths out uneven surface irregularities, offers stone-chip protection and protects the e-coat from UV radiation. The basecoat lends the body its color, its effects and its aesthetic appearance.

“Increasing waterborne coatings production capacity, we aim to meet our customers’ demand, that has been driven by new automotive manufacturing plants in Brazil and also by the tendency for waterborne technology instead of solvent borne”, said Antonio Carlos Lacerda, Senior Vice President of the Functional Solutions Segment and Infrastructure for BASF South America.

BASF is the pioneer in developing waterborne coatings for the automotive industry. This technology is eco-efficient because water replaces most of the organic solvents that are used in solvent borne coatings thus reducing emissions of VOC – volatile organic compounds.

Furthermore, BASF has been supporting its customers in the use of integrated processes, which can reduce one or two steps of the painting process, maintaining the same high quality standards. The technology contributes to optimize time and resources of coatings and is more eco-efficiently compared to conventional processes. For instance, energy consumption and CO2 emissions are reduced by up to 20%.