BASF Automotive Coatings Plant

Fluor was selected by BASF to provide front-end engineering and design (FEED) and engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) for a new automotive coatings plant in Shanghai.

The expanded facility produces innovative and eco-efficient automotive coatings that support the growing automotive industry in China and better serve local car manufacturers.

Engineering News-Record magazine honored the BASF automotive coatings plant project with an Award of Merit in the 2018 Global Best Projects Awards.

Client's Challenge

BASF Shanghai Coatings Co. Ltd. planned an investment to build a new, world-scale automotive coatings plant at the company's existing site at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Caojing. The new plant is an expansion of the automotive coatings plant, which began production in 2014 at the same site.

Fluor's Solution

After completing the FEED, Fluor provided EPCM services for the project. Fluor was responsible for building production lines, a solvent recovery unit, tank farms, utilities, warehouses, administration building and site infrastructure, with more than 1,200 craft workers onsite at peak.

An expansion of an existing facility, the project was constructed adjacent to several operating units, requiring close collaboration with the plant operations to ensure safety. Leveraging Fluor's safety programs, including its Life Critical^SM activity requirements, the project achieved 3.6 million work hours without a lost-time incident.

Conclusion

In July 2017, Fluor reached mechanical completion of the automotive coatings plant. Working closely with BASF, the team optimized the schedule to support parallel construction activities and deliver the project safely and on schedule.

As a global engineering partner for BASF, Fluor has delivered many of BASF's recent expansion projects, including an isononanol plant in China and a citral facility in Malaysia.