BASF’s authoritative statement: 80% of the chemical industry’s growth over the next decade will be concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region.

Recently, BASF detailed its 2024 annual report, revealing that the Asia-Pacific region holds exceptional development potential and will be a key market for focused investment. BASF’s 2024 Investment: 52% in Asia-Pacific, up 34.17% year-on-year—A Key Focus In 2024, BASF actively expanded its investment strategy, prioritizing three high-potential core markets—Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe—to consolidate its global position. Total investment reached €6.506 billion, an increase of 10.95% year-on-year. From a geographical perspective, the Asia-Pacific region—especially China—accounts for approximately 50% of the global chemical market and serves as the primary engine driving global chemical market growth. This region is expected to retain strong appeal going forward. BASF forecasts that by 2035, 80% of global chemical industry growth will be concentrated here. To proactively integrate into this growth trend and meet the rising demand from rapidly developing industries across the region, BASF is advancing major infrastructure projects—including its new integrated site in Zhanjiang, whose core structures are scheduled for completion in 2025. Starting in 2025, the Zhanjiang site will operate entirely on renewable electricity. Additionally, BASF continues to advance other Asian sites, such as the Kuantan expansion project in Malaysia, developed jointly with PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad. In 2024, BASF invested €3.383 billion in Asia—52% of its total investment—and this figure rose 34.17% year-on-year. In North America, BASF invested €1.171 billion in 2024, up 24.82% year-on-year; in Europe, investment totaled €1.822 billion, down 20.34% year-on-year. In North America, BASF’s priority is expanding MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) value-chain capacity at its Geismar, Louisiana integrated site. The project is scheduled to commence operations in 2026, raising BASF’s North American MDI production capacity from 380,000 tons annually to approximately 600,000 tons. This MDI expansion represents BASF’s largest single investment in North America. BASF also made significant investments at its European sites. In 2024, a world-scale alkylation ethanolamine production plant commenced operations at its integrated site in Antwerp, Belgium—increasing BASF’s global production capacity for this product and its derivatives by nearly 30%. BASF’s projects launched in 2024 and 2025 are as follows: In 2024, Europe ranked first among BASF’s revenue-generating markets, followed by North America and Asia. Revenues from all three major markets declined year-on-year, while revenues from South America, Africa, and the Middle East rose 26.68% year-on-year. Asia’s share of total revenue remained essentially flat. China accounts for 86% of global chemical industry growth. From a global market perspective, industrial production grew by 1.5% in 2023 and accelerated to 2.1% in 2024. In advanced economies, industrial production has virtually stagnated; conversely, emerging markets demonstrated robust growth, reaching 3.9% in 2024—up from 2.9% in 2023.

With 126% tariffs blocking entry and BASF’s 600,000-ton MDI capacity expansion exerting pressure, Chinese MDI producers face 'dual pressure' on their exports to North America.

Huizheng Information, October 5, 2026: The President of BASF’s Global Monomers Division announced the official commissioning of the MDI expansion project at BASF’s integrated production site in Geismar, Louisiana, USA. As a result, BASF’s annual MDI production capacity in North America has surged from 380,000 tons to approximately 600,000 tons—an increase exceeding 57%. MDI—the core raw material for polyurethane—is widely used in critical sectors including building insulation, home appliance manufacturing, automotive lightweighting, new-energy photovoltaics, and cold-chain logistics. The industry has long been characterized by oligopolistic competition and regional supply-demand mismatches. Historically, global MDI capacity has been concentrated in three regions: China, Europe, and North America—with China’s capacity dominating globally thanks to its scale advantages. MDI production involves extremely high technological barriers and capital requirements, resulting in highly concentrated global capacity among only a few enterprises. According to data from Buyhuasuo Research Institute, the top five producers—Wanhua Chemical, BASF, Covestro, Huntsman, and Dow—collectively account for nearly 90% of global MDI capacity. In the first half of 2026, Covestro’s North American facility suffered force majeure, Dow’s Middle Eastern facility experienced unplanned shutdowns, and BASF’s Indian facility operated abnormally. Coupled with Wanhua’s Fujian facility undergoing maintenance, nearly 20% of global MDI capacity temporarily operated at low load or halted altogether—driving 2026 MDI prices significantly above year-ago levels. According to monitoring by Buyhuasuo Research, polymer MDI prices in 2026 experienced sharp volatility—first hitting bottom, then surging sharply, and finally retreating. Prices started the year at around ¥14,000 per ton, rapidly climbed to a yearly peak of ¥20,700 per ton in early April, and stabilized between ¥15,800–¥16,500 per ton in July. In late July, escalating raw material, transportation, and logistics costs triggered by Middle Eastern geopolitical tensions prompted Wanhua, Huntsman, and BASF to issue successive price adjustment notices—pushing prices up again to ¥17,700 per ton. As of now, domestic polymer MDI prices have risen to ¥18,300 per ton.

BASF inaugurates MDI plant in Louisiana

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BASF inaugurated a new MDI plant in Louisiana, doubling annual capacity to 600,000 metric tons with a $1 billion investment. The expansion supports polyurethane and agricultural chemical applications across North America.

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BASF inaugurates MDI plant in Louisiana

BASF inaugurates MDI plant in Louisiana

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