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BASF sees $60-mn sales from Indian acquisition

German chemicals firm BASF AG said on Wednesday that it expected to generate sales of between $40 million and $60 million a year from a unit it has acquired in Gujarat.

BASF AG recently acquired Pushpa Polymers Pvt Ltd, based in Dahej in the state of Gujarat, in partnership with the New York-based Chatterjee group and has renamed the company BASF Styrenics Private Limited.

No financial details were disclosed. BASF will hold a majority stake.

Werner Praetorius, head of stryenic polymers division of BASF AG, told reporters he expected production at Pushpa Polymers to be up and running soon and part of the projected sales would be in the global market.

"The unit will be part of a global network for BASF," he said. "We would primarily look to export to markets like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, though we could even export to Europe."

The company has the capacity to produce 30,000 tonnes standard and high impact polystyrenes a year and Praetorius said capacity could be increased to between 80,000 and 100,000 tonnes soon by improving production methods.

"We will introduce BASF's most advanced products like high performance grades for refrigerators and top-of-the-line products for office equipment and electronics," he said.

BASF's 51 per cent Indian subsidiary BASF India Limited earlier this year increased capacity at its expandable polystyrene product Styropor from 7,000 to 15,000 tonnes a year.

BASF India's managing director Prasad Chandran said that he was "optimistic" about sales in the remainder of the year and saw profitability in line with last year's.

The company posted a net profit of Rs 199.8 million on sales of Rs 3.8 billion in the year to March 2000.

"Leather exports are up, the paper industry has recovered and we hope the next rabi (summer) crop is good," he said.

The three sectors are major consumers of BASF's products in India.

The BASF group of companies had sales of Rs 10.58 billion in India in 1999, including income from trading and indenting operations and from Knoll Pharmaceuticals, the Indian affiliate of BASF AG's pharmaceuticals arm.

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