BASF celebrated a major milestone with the tenth anniversary and expansion of its 3-(dimethylamino)propylamine (DMAPA) and polyetheramine (PEA) production at its Nanjing site in China. With the startup of the expanded plants in July 2025, the site’s annual DMAPA capacity has nearly doubled, while PEA production capacity has increased by around 25% — reinforcing BASF’s leadership in high-performance amine solutions.
Meeting Growing Regional Demand Through Collaboration
Michael Becker, Senior Vice President, Intermediates Asia Pacific, BASF, highlighted the importance of customer partnerships in driving the company’s regional success: “Over the past decade, close collaboration with our customers has been key to our success. This expansion further strengthens our responsiveness and ability to deliver reliable supply and high-quality products, laying a solid foundation to meet our customers’ growing demand across Asia Pacific.” The strategic expansion enhances BASF’s ability to serve key markets across the region while ensuring consistent supply reliability for a broad range of industries.
Transition to 100% Renewable Electricity Reduces Carbon Footprint
Since 2023, BASF has transitioned its entire amine production portfolio at the Nanjing site to 100% renewable electricity, significantly advancing its sustainability goals. This includes not only DMAPA and PEA but also tert-Butylamine (tBA), n-octylamine (NOA), and 1,2-propylendiamine (1,2-PDA).
This shift has achieved an annual CO₂ reduction of approximately 9,800 tons compared to the 2020 baseline — representing an average product carbon footprint (PCF) reduction of around 4% across the site’s amine portfolio. Customers directly benefit from this transition through reduced Scope 3 emissions, achieved without any process changes on their end.
“As one of the world’s largest amines producers, BASF is taking a major step towards sustainability by converting to 100% renewable electricity for the amines produced at Nanjing,” said Joachim Schmidt-Leithoff, Vice President, Business Management Amines, Acetylenics and Carbonyl Derivatives, Intermediates Asia Pacific, BASF. “This move strengthens our competitiveness while supporting customers’ decarbonization efforts, positioning BASF as their preferred partner for sustainable intermediates,” Schmidt-Leithoff added.
Supporting Industry Transformation Through Versatile Amines
DMAPA serves as a key building block for producing betaines, which are widely used in gentle liquid soaps, shampoos, and dishwashing detergents. It also plays a critical role in water treatment, plant protection products, lubricant additives, polyurethane foams, and epoxy resin hardeners.
Following the expansion, BASF has increased its global DMAPA production capacity by over 20%, reaching approximately 85,000 metric tons per year, further cementing its position as one of the world’s leading DMAPA producers.
Meanwhile, PEA (polyetheramine) is a vital intermediate for epoxy curing agents used in manufacturing plastics, adhesives, polyurea coatings, reaction injection molding, and wind blade composites. BASF markets PEA under its Baxxodur® brand, known for its reliability and high performance.
A Decade of Innovation and a Future of Sustainable Growth
As BASF marks a decade of production excellence at Nanjing, the company continues to expand capacity, lower emissions, and deliver sustainable chemical solutions. As per company press release, the expansion and renewable energy transition together reflect BASF’s long-term commitment to innovation, customer partnership, and environmental responsibility — driving the next chapter of sustainable growth in the Asia Pacific region.
