BASF is expanding its polyurethanes system house in Bangpoo, Thailand, to meet growing regional, demand, in particular from the transportation and footwear segments, and plans to make the Thai site its ASEAN hub for the business. The redesigned facility with a total production area of 2,700 square meters will add mixing vessels, reactors and storage tanks to existing equipment.

“Investing in the expansion of our system house will allow us to bring innovative products and solutions to the market faster. We will develop new applications for our customers, backed by our design, engineering, and technical competences,” said Andy Postlethwaite, BASF’s senior vice president, Performance Materials Asia Pacific.

Thailand had the largest automotive industry in  Southeast Asia as of 2015, and BASF expects it to continue to grow with differentiated products and emerging applications. The footwear industry in Vietnam, already one of the world’s largest exporters, is also expected to continue growing as manufacturers relocate their manufacturing base there, Postlethwaite noted.

Another large customer for BASF’s PU systems is the automotive industry in Thailand, which accounted for nearly half of the 3.8 million cars produced in ASEAN last year. Production volume of the trade area’s car market by is expected to rise by about 30% up to 2022.