BASF Opens New Headquarters in North America

The target is consistent with the company’s plan to outpace both worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) and chemical industry production rates in North America.

7 May 2012 --- BASF Corporation, New Jersey state officials, including Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, and community representatives celebrated the official opening of BASF’s new North American headquarters building at 100 Park Avenue in Florham Park, New Jersey. The 325,000 square foot building, developed in partnership with the Rockefeller Group Development Corporation, is designed to achieve LEED double Platinum* certification. It features many BASF enabled construction solutions and is one of New Jersey’s largest sustainable buildings.

“Our new headquarters stands as a tangible example of how BASF creates chemistry for a sustainable future,” said Dr. Hans-Ulrich Engel, Chairman and CEO of BASF Corporation. “By incorporating the latest technologies and materials with smart design and sophisticated ergonomics, we will be protective of the environment while providing 1,400 employees with a healthy and safe work atmosphere where they can even better cooperate and collaborate.”

Strategic investments support regional growth

The day’s activities included a press conference at the new regional headquarters building to outline the company’s plans for accelerated business growth in North America.

Engel and Frank Bozich, Executive Vice President and President of the global Catalysts division, said BASF had a solid start to the year and plans to grow sales in North America by about five percent per year through 2020, driven by strategic capital investments, sustainability-enabling innovations, and optimization of the company’s portfolio through acquisitions. The target is consistent with the company’s plan to outpace both worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) and chemical industry production rates in North America. In the medium term, growth is expected to be 2 percentage points above chemical production.

During the press conference, BASF announced that it will be adding a formic acid plant at its Geismar, Louisiana, production facility. It will be the only formic acid plant in North America and will allow BASF to serve strategic markets in North and South America better, including applications for pharmaceuticals, energy, animal nutrition, leather and cleaning products.

“At Geismar, and at our site in Freeport, Texas, plants are strategically co-located. Chemicals and heat produced during chemical reactions are captured and repurposed as feedstocks and energy in other parts of the site. This concept, which we call “Verbund,” is a BASF core competency – one we put to work at six sites throughout the world,” said Engel.