BASF Verbund Site Antwerp aerial photo | Source: BASF
BASF Antwerpen NV operates the BASF Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium — the largest integrated chemical production site in Belgium and the second-largest BASF production site in the world after Ludwigshafen. The site is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF SE.
Location and Infrastructure
The site is located in the northernmost part of the Port of Antwerp, on the right bank of the Scheldt River, covering approximately 600 hectares — comparable in size to Antwerp's historic city centre. Its strategic location in Europe's premier logistics hub gives the site direct access to the sea and the European hinterland, making it BASF Group's principal maritime facility in Europe. An internal road network of 150 km, 40 km of rail connections, and extensive sea transport infrastructure handle approximately 7 million tonnes of goods per year, with nearly two-thirds of shipments moving by sea.
Scale and Production
The site houses approximately 50–54 integrated production facilities linked in a Verbund network, employing around 3,000 direct BASF employees. Activities are concentrated across four main product areas:
- Petrochemicals: Built around the largest steam cracker in Northwest Europe, producing ethylene, propylene, benzene, and other basic chemicals
- Performance chemicals: Including alkyl ethanolamines, surfactants, alkoxylates, and ethylene oxide derivatives
- Fibre intermediates and plastics: Including caprolactam and other polymer precursors
- Mineral fertilisers and inorganic chemicals
Products from the Antwerp site serve virtually all downstream processing sectors including automotive, construction, paper and leather, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, textiles, and consumer goods.
Recent Investments and Expansions
Despite the broader European restructuring context, the Antwerp site has seen targeted capacity expansions in recent years:
- Alkyl ethanolamines plant: A new world-scale facility inaugurated in September 2024, increasing BASF's global capacity for dimethylethanolamine (DMEOA) and methyl diethanolamine (MDEOA) by nearly 30% to over 140,000 tonnes/year
- Ethylene oxide and derivatives expansion: Completed in October 2023, adding approximately 400,000 tonnes/year of capacity for ethylene oxide and alkoxylate derivatives
Sustainability and Restructuring
BASF Antwerp has committed to becoming the first climate-neutral chemical production site in the world, targeting net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050. The site has invested in offshore wind energy through BASF's stake in the Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) wind farm — the world's largest non-subsidised offshore wind project — to supply the facility with renewable electricity. A sodium-sulphur (NaS) battery energy storage system has also been commissioned at the site to support grid flexibility.
However, the broader European energy cost crisis has taken its toll. BASF Antwerp is cutting approximately 600 jobs by 2028, affecting nearly one in five positions, as part of a drive to achieve €150 million in fixed cost savings. This restructuring mirrors the wider cost reduction programme being implemented across BASF's European operations, as the company repositions its global manufacturing footprint in favour of lower-cost, high-growth geographies — most notably exemplified by the newly inaugurated Zhanjiang Verbund site in China.
