According to BASF’s official announcement on November 23, BASF took advantage of China’s current low interest rate environment to sign a 40 billion yuan (approximately 5 billion euro) project for its integrated base in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China. The syndicated bank term loan facility has a term of 15 years.
BASF will finance the Zhanjiang integrated site with a combination of approximately 20% equity and 80% debt. The loan will be provided by major Chinese banks and will provide flexible repayment options to optimize BASF's cash utilization.
"By signing this bank term loan agreement, BASF is implementing its strategy of using Chinese funds to finance the Zhanjiang project," said Dr. Dirk Elvermann, Chief Financial Officer of BASF SE. BASF's financial strength and track record of strong sales and earnings growth in China enable it to obtain attractive loan financing terms.
“We are impressed by the strong support of the project from the local banking market,” said Christian Jutzi, Chief Financial Officer, BASF said. “This underlines the confidence of our banking partners that our new integrated website will be a key platform for long-term profitability and sustainable growth.”
BASF's Zhanjiang integrated base will be constructed in phases. The first set of equipment was officially announced to be put into operation in September 2022. Another unit for the production of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) will be put into operation in 2023 to meet the needs of customers in multiple growth industries in southern China and throughout the Asian market. The entire base is expected to be completed in 2030.
The Zhanjiang integrated base project is BASF's largest single investment project to date, with a total investment of 10 billion euros and will be independently constructed and operated by BASF. Upon completion, the base will become BASF's third largest production base in the world, behind the Ludwigshafen base in Germany and the Antwerp base in Belgium.
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