BASF to invest at least 2b euros in Asia

The world's biggest chemical firm, BASF, will invest more than two billion euros (2.6 billion dollars) in Asia by 2014, with more than half the sum earmarked for China, a senior executive said on Monday.
BASF will invest "two-billion plus euros" into some 100 Asian sites, board member Martin Brudermueller told the Financial Times (FT) in an interview, at least half of which would flow into China.
"We are certainly in discussions about building new plants in Asia," Brudermeuller added. "If you want to keep the growth pace you have to invest."
In the first nine months of this year, Asia accounted for 23 percent of BASF's sales, which totaled 39.6 billion euros.
About half of the Asian sales came from China, now the group's third largest market, the FT said.
In the past 20 years, the German chemical giant has invested 3.5 billion euros in China, more than 20 percent of all German direct investment in the country, it added.