BASF has announced plans to build a world-scale plant for specialty amines at its wholly owned site in China's Nanjing Chemical Industry Park. Main products of the facility - for which no capacity has been disclosed - will be dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA) and polyether amines (PEA).

Production in China will complement the group's capacity in Ludwigshafen, Germany and the Geismar, Louisiana in the U.S. and will allow it to better serve customers by shortening lead times.

Guido Voit, senior vice president BASF intermediates Asia Pacific, said the investment is driven by the increasing consumption of personal care products by the Chinese middle class. Additional markets will be in construction, wind energy and coatings in China as well as emerging countries in Asia.

DMAPA is used mainly in production of betaines, co-surfactants in personal care products but also in dyes intermediates, lubricant additives or electroplating coupling agents for rubber.

PEA is an intermediate for epoxy curing agents used among other things to produce plastics, polyurea coatings, adhesives and wind blade composites.