BASF Shanghai Coatings Company Limited is investing in a new basecoat plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Shanghai, China. The new plant will increase the company’s local production capacity for basecoat by 13,500 tons per year. Basecoat gives color to and determines the visual impression made by the painted car body.

The new coatings plant is planned to start production in the first half of 2014. BASF Shanghai Coatings Company Limited is a joint venture with 15 years of partnership between BASF and Shanghai Coatings Company Ltd. The joint venture is already running a production facility in the district of Minhang in Shanghai.

“In China, BASF has been supplying coatings reliably to international and domestic car makers for more than 15 years. As a long-term partner, we have witnessed how China has become a world leader in automotive production,” said Peter Fischer, senior vice president, coatings solutions Asia Pacific at BASF. “Our investment in additional local coatings production facilities reflects our commitment to address the current and future needs of our automotive customers in this dynamic market.

“With our latest technologies, innovative coatings solutions and processes, we will continue to invest in strengthening our infrastructure to support the growing automotive industry in China,” Fischer said.

BASF is the coatings supplier who introduced waterborne basecoats to China in 2005. It is also the world’s number one chemical supplier to the automotive industry. The company offers a wide range of products for use in the automotive industry throughout the value chain, for automotive manufacturers and suppliers and in customer service.