BASF agrees new semiconductor materials site in Nanjing
Image: Photo: BASF SE
BASF has signed an investment agreement to establish a new electronic materials production site in Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Materials High-Tech Park. Start-up is expected by the end of 2028, with the project intended to support China’s semiconductor industry through local production, supply and technical expertise.[1]
The company says the facility will build on its existing Nanjing presence and provide a base for closer development work with customers and partners. It has not specified the investment value, production capacity or individual product lines, so the announcement establishes the location and timetable rather than a detailed manufacturing plan.[1]
BASF’s semiconductor business supplies chemicals used at several stages of wafer processing, including cleaning, etching and photolithography, the patterning process that defines circuit features. Its portfolio also covers chemical mechanical planarisation, which flattens wafer surfaces between process steps, and wet deposition. These materials are consumed while making chips, placing the investment upstream of packaged components and finished electronic equipment.[2]
Its existing SELECTIPUR range illustrates how specialised this supply becomes. The cleaning portfolio includes high-purity hydrogen peroxide, isopropyl alcohol, ammonium hydroxide and sulphuric acid, while formulated etchants are tailored to remove particular materials. BASF lists separate approaches for silicon, insulating films and metals, including processes used in wafer thinning and the vertical connections found in some advanced packages.[3]
A process that removes an unwanted film must leave the intended structure usable for the next operation, so the chemical recipe and its purity belong to the manufacturing process itself. BASF offers different purity grades and customised formulations within that wider range. Those existing capabilities explain the business behind the Nanjing expansion, without establishing which of them will be produced at the new site.[2][3]
BASF already has a specialty chemicals manufacturing base in Nanjing dating to 2007 and commissioned a dispersant production line in the Jiangbei materials park in November 2025. That earlier investment serves coatings, inks and composites, while the new agreement concerns electronic materials for semiconductor manufacturing.[1][4]
BASF’s existing Nanjing site, pictured in 2025. The new semiconductor materials facility is planned for 2028. Photo: BASF SE. Image source. Reuse terms.
