MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF and Huafon Group Co., Ltd. have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to extend their partnership with initiatives to develop the polyurethane, bio-fiber and spandex markets in China, as per GV.
The two companies will work together in the areas of technical exchange, market development, and quality raw material supply.
According to the agreement, BASF and Huafon will jointly promote the growth of the polyurethane market in China, especially in the Western region. Additionally, BASF will develop speciality fibre and bio-content fibre for high-end apparel products with Huafon. In the field of spandex, the two companies will strengthen their cooperation in spandex technology, intermediate products and industrial digitalisation. The companies will also work together to optimise their raw material resources.
"At BASF we innovate to make our customers more successful. This includes providing the right solutions and support to help our customers grow their business," said Sanjeev Gandhi, member of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF SE, responsible for the Asia Pacific region.
You Xiaoping, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Huafon, said: "One key to Huafon’s success is partnering with the world’s leading chemical company, BASF. With this strategic cooperation, Huafon has reached another milestone in becoming an innovative, sustainable and global company."
The two partners’ business relationship stretches back more than two decades. In May 2006, Huafon received the first batch of polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) delivered from BASF’s production site in Caojing. In 2007, Huafon was recognised as BASF’s strategic partner for the spandex business, the first such agreement by BASF with a customer in China. Since 2006, BASF has helped Huafon transform from a private family business into a leading public company, especially through support in the areas of environment, health and safety performance.
As MRC wrote previously, in November 2016, BASF announced that within the next five years, the company plans to invest globally more than EUR200 million in its plastic additives business, approximately half of which in Asia, focusing on capacity expansions and operational excellence. Plastic additives improve product properties such as scratch resistance or light stability, and optimize plastics manufacturing processes. As the leading global supplier of plastic additives with manufacturing assets in all regions, BASF is a major partner to the plastics industry.
BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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