Transparent reporting for seven consecutive years

BASF has published ‘BASF in Greater China – Report 2014’, a concise document about the company’s activities and performance in Greater China. ‘BASF understands sustainability as the balance of the financial, environmental, and social aspects of our business. We report on our progress in all of these aspects not only at a global level, but also with local integrated reports in Greater China. This approach serves as an important basis for dialogue with our stakeholders. In 2014, BASF made important achievements in several areas of our business in Greater China,’ said Dr Albert Heuser, President Greater China and Functions Asia Pacific, BASF. The report is BASF’s seventh annual integrated local report since 2008.

With sales of €5.5bn to customers located in Greater China, BASF’s business performance in 2014 matched the level of the previous year. "This was achieved despite the volatile global economic environment and we have seen very positive developments in several business areas by focusing on innovation and sustainability,” said Heuser.

"We have been making continuous efforts in operational excellence over the years to maximise energy efficiency and minimise environmental impact, which led to various improvements, for example, in water use and emission control in 2014,” said Heuser.

Although BASF opened several new production sites in 2014, performance in several key environmental indicators remained stable or decreased. In the area of water supply, process optimisation, along with water recycling and reuse projects at several sites, helped BASF’s total water supply in Greater China decrease to 6.0Mm3 (2013: 6.1Mm3). Additionally, total emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from BASF’s chemical operations in Greater China went down slightly, to 910,355t (2013: 918,331t), resulting from a series of energy saving and GHG emission reduction measures in 2014.

BASF supports and promotes the internationally accepted best practices of the chemical industry in Greater China. In 2014, BASF received the first Responsible Care Best Organizer Award by China Petroleum & Chemical Industry Federation, for its on-going, outstanding efforts in implementing and promoting Responsible Care in the petroleum and chemical industry. BASF was the only listed multinational enterprise to receive this award.

BASF continued to invest in the expansion and optimisation of its extensive production network in Greater China. In 2014, BASF started up new plants for crop protection, acrylic acid, superabsorbent polymers and automotive coatings in Rudong, Nanjing and Shanghai, while the BASF plant for MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, a precursor for polyurethane) in Chongqing achieved mechanical completion. BASF operates a total of 22 major wholly-owned subsidiaries and eight major joint ventures across Greater China.

BASF Innovation Campus Asia Pacific in Shanghai is the company’s most important research and development (R&D) centre in the region. Only two years after its inauguration, BASF broke ground on its second phase expansion with an investment of €90M in 2014 to encompass a growing share of BASF’s global R&D activities.

BASF deepened its engagement with stakeholders and partners along the value chain in 2014 with new initiatives, such as the joint sustainability training course for suppliers with East China University of Science and Technology and Together for Sustainability. Both programmes help suppliers to improve their EHS and sustainability performance.

BASF turns 150 in 2015, and has been doing business in China for 130 years. With celebration and co-creation as the themes of the anniversary year, more than 1000 participants from customer industries, government, academia and non-governmental organisations participated at the Creator Space tour in Shanghai earlier this year to discuss hot topics for better urban living.