(Yicai Global) March 9 -- German chemicals giant BASF will build new aroma ingredients plants in China and Germany to meet growing demand from the global flavor and fragrance market.

BASF will invest in a new citral plant at its Verbund site in Zhangjiang in China’s southern Guangdong province, and menthol and linalool downstream plants at its Verbund site in Germany’s Ludwigshafen, where the company is headquartered, BASF said on March 7. The plants are expected to come on stream from 2026 onwards, it added.

The investment will expand and diversify the footprint of BASF’s aroma ingredients’ citral value chain in Germany and Malaysia and support clients’ growth opportunities, BASF noted, adding that the China plant will strengthen the firm’s position in key growth regions and increase production of a broad range of aroma ingredients and further downstream products globally.

“The expansion of our global production network benefits our customers in the flavor and fragrance industry by further strengthening supply security,” BASF Aroma Ingredients’ Senior Vice President Thilo Bischoff said. “Investing in Zhanjiang is also a significant step towards sustainable production and addressing our customers’ demands for products with a lower carbon footprint.”

BASF’s annual capacity of citral will increase to 118,000 metric tons thanks to the additional production capacity.

BASF is further accelerating its plan to power the entire Zhanjiang Verbund site with renewable electricity by 2025, it said. The “site is set to be a role model for sustainable production, which was a key decision factor in the location of the new citral plant,” Bischoff noted.

“Along with the integration of our new downstream plants into the Ludwigshafen production Verbund site, our commitment to sustainability is central to our business and investments,” he added.

Editor: Futura Costaglione