BASF today announced that it would invest in a new citral plant at its integrated base in Zhanjiang, China, and in the downstream units of menthol and linalool at the Ludwigshafen integrated base in Germany. These devices are expected to be put into production from 2026 to meet the growing demand of the global essence and spice market and promote BASF's firm goal of sustainable development and transformation.
This investment will expand the production scale of BASF raw material citral value chain in Germany and Malaysia, realize production diversification, and support customers' growth opportunities. China's citral plant will further consolidate BASF's market position in key growth areas, and expand the production scale of various fragrance raw materials and downstream products worldwide. After the completion of the investment, the annual capacity of BASF citral will increase to 118000 tons.
Thilo Bischoff, senior vice president of BASF's fragrance raw material business department, said: "The further expansion of the global production network can further improve our supply level to customers in the fragrance raw material industry. The investment in Zhanjiang base is also an important measure for us to achieve sustainable production and meet customers' demand for low carbon footprint products."
Strong commitment to sustainable development and transformation
The integration of new units into integrated bases in China and Germany will help to optimize the utilization of resources and play a synergistic effect. In Zhanjiang Integrated Base, BASF will further accelerate the process of renewable energy power supply, and aims to provide 100% renewable energy power for the entire Zhanjiang Integrated Base by 2025. BASF will also use advanced automation and process technology in the base to optimize the operation of base devices, thus reducing energy consumption and emissions. The downstream devices of menthol and linalool in Ludwigshafen base in Germany will give full play to the existing integrated architecture and advanced production technology.
Bischoff added: "BASF Zhanjiang Integrated Base is committed to becoming a model of sustainable production, which is also the key factor for the location of the new citral plant in Zhanjiang Base. With the integration of new downstream devices in Ludwigshafen Integrated Base, the commitment to sustainable development has become the core of our business and investment. Reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of our value chain, reduce the carbon footprint of the products of the fragrance raw material portfolio, and introduce renewable raw materials, It is the top priority of the fragrance raw material business. "
The use of BASF's biomass balance scheme is another example of the company to meet customers' demand for renewable raw materials. BASF will also further develop its leading product portfolio based on fermentation technology in its subsidiary Isobics in Geleen, the Netherlands, to meet the growing demand for natural flavor raw materials.