BASF Commissions Renewable-Powered Steam Cracker at Zhanjiang Verbund Site in China

BASF SE has successfully completed the commissioning and start-up of the steam cracker at its newly developed Verbund site in Zhanjiang, located in southern China. The start-up was executed according to the planned schedule and marks a significant milestone in the company’s long-term investment strategy in the region. Notably, this facility represents a global first, as it is the world’s only steam cracker whose main compressors are powered entirely by renewable electricity through advanced electric drive technology (eDrives). This innovation underlines BASF’s commitment to sustainability and low-carbon industrial operations.

At the core of the Verbund concept, the steam cracker plays a pivotal role in supplying essential base chemicals, including ethylene and propylene, to multiple downstream production units across the site. These basic chemicals serve as foundational building blocks for numerous chemical value chains that ultimately feed into a broad range of end-use industries. In the cracking process, long-chain hydrocarbons such as naphtha or butane are thermally decomposed with the aid of steam to produce lighter olefins. The Zhanjiang steam cracker has been designed with an annual ethylene production capacity of approximately one million metric tons, positioning it among the largest and most advanced facilities of its kind in the region.

Commenting on the achievement, Dr. Stephan Kothrade, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE and Chief Technology Officer, emphasized the strategic importance of the milestone. He stated that the successful commissioning of the steam cracker substantially enhances BASF’s diversified and integrated value chains in China, while also strengthening the company’s ability to serve customers across a wide spectrum of industries, ranging from consumer goods and automotive to construction and electronics.

In addition to the steam cracker, BASF has recently completed the safe and successful start-up of several downstream facilities at the Zhanjiang Verbund site. These include plants producing ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, and polyethylene, following earlier commissioning of multiple propylene-based downstream units. Together, these interconnected plants exemplify the efficiency of the Verbund approach, where production units share resources, energy, and infrastructure to maximize operational synergies while minimizing emissions and waste.

Once fully completed, the Zhanjiang site will become BASF’s third-largest Verbund site worldwide, following its major integrated production hubs in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp. Beyond its scale, the Zhanjiang Verbund is intended to serve as a benchmark for sustainable chemical manufacturing, not only within China but also globally. A key feature of the site’s sustainability strategy is its electricity supply, which will be sourced entirely from renewable energy, significantly reducing the carbon footprint of its operations.

The majority of products manufactured at the Zhanjiang Verbund site will be supplied to customers within China, which represents the world’s largest and fastest-growing chemical market. By localizing production and leveraging state-of-the-art, low-carbon technologies, BASF aims to support China’s industrial development while advancing its own goals of climate neutrality and responsible growth.