German chemical producer BASF AG said it expects to benefit from
China's booming automotive industry by supplying more engineering
plastics and catalysts to the market.
The company set up a new automotive center this year in
Shanghai, which houses a showroom, applications development labs,
technical service facilities and marketing and sales functions.
"This is the first of its kind by BASF worldwide," Wolfgang
Hapke, the company's Asia-Pacific president, told reporters
yesterday at the new center, in Pudong's Jinqiao area.
The center serves the ventures of BASF's global partners as well
as domestic auto manufacturers.
The automotive chemicals sector has become BASF's largest
revenue source, second only to general chemicals, Hapke said.
He said BASF derived about 10 percent of its total sales of 52.6
billion euros (US$74.7 billion) last year from the auto industry.
He was unable to provide an exact figure for China, though he said
it was higher than 10 percent.
BASF's China sales totaled 3.6 billion euros in 2006.
Asia's auto industry is experiencing the highest growth rate in
the world, with China one of the main drivers.
BASF foresees "significant growth" in China, where car makers
are rolling out more new models.
Auto makers are using more plastics to make vehicles lighter,
Hapke said. The firm will also benefit from its catalysts, which
can reduce car emissions. BASF offers other auto-related chemicals
including coatings, pigments and brake fluids.
Reducing a car's weight by 10 percent can lower fuel consumption
by about five percent, and BASF's additives could cut consumption
by a further two percent, according to Hapke.
(Shanghai Daily October 12, 2007)
