Germany’s BASF is building a plant in Myanmar to produce chemicals for the booming domestic construction industry, and to fill a need for more advanced materials.
“As Myanmar’s construction industry grows more sophisticated in its scope, which includes high-rise buildings, roadways and bridges, the requirement for high-quality technical and construction solutions will increase,” said Christian Mombaur, head of BASF’s construction chemicals division unit in Asia.
Subject to official approvals, the plant is to be built in 2017 in Yangon, the country’s former capital and commercial center. “We do not disclose the investment amount,” a company spokesperson told the Nikkei Asian Review.
Myanmar uses 8 million tons of cement annually, more than half of which is imported. In per capita usage terms, that works out to around 76kg per person compared to 515kg in Thailand. Annual national cement production capacity is only 3.1 million tons, and mostly uses wet processing. Foreign companies are looking to fill the capacity gap.
France’s Lafarge and two local partners have invested in a 20,000-ton capacity cement factory in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone.
BASF has been supplying concrete admixture, construction systems, and mining chemicals to Myanmar for ten years, and opened a service office in Yangon in September 2015.
BASF has supplied a number of major construction projects in Myanmar, including the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, Yeywa hydropower dam, and the Myingyan steel mill.
“We welcome the entry of an international standard construction factory like BASF,” said U Tin Win, a private contractor. He said local production would reduce costs and increase employment. “If we can have more job opportunities, then the country will grow,” he said.
Source: Asian Review
