Global leader in automotive catalysts, BASF Catalysts is expanding its automotive catalyst plants in Shanghai, and Chennai to meet growing customer demand over the next few years.

BASF Catalysts already is a market leader in automotive catalysts throughout Asia, and the planned expansions will support the company''s continued leadership in the region.

Domestic car sales in China and India are expected to grow significantly over the next few years, spurring growth in demand for light-duty automotive catalysts. Several factors are driving this growth: the emergence of a large middle in both countries able to afford automobiles; the availability of high-quality domestic and foreign cars produced locally; and tightening emissions regulations, starting with the larger cities in India and China.

In response, BASF Catalysts will nearly double manufacturing capacity in Shanghai, and triple its capacity in Chennai. The technical capabilities of both sites will be upgraded in order to deliver the most advanced emission-control technologies that will meet anticipated new emissions standards in China and India. Capacity expansions at both locations will be complete by early 2009.

"We are committed to helping our customers be more successful," said Wayne T. Smith, president of BASFs Catalysts division. That means having the right manufacturing capabilities in the right locations at the right time. The expansions in China and India will enhance our ability to supply our customers with the emission control technologies they require as those economies continue to grow.

The Shanghai and Chennai expansions are part of a significant commitment in new capital investments made since BASF Catalysts was established mid-2006. Additional expansions are underway to support key growth technologies and markets including: refinery catalysts, diesel emissions control, and chemical catalyst technologies.

BASF''s Catalysts division is the worlds leading supplier of environmental and process catalysts. The division offers exceptional expertise in the development of technologies that protect the air we breathe, produce the fuels that power our world and ensure efficient production of a wide variety of chemicals, plastics, adsorbents and other products.