Company Announcement - Company CCCCcCCCFocus on sustainable solutions
Company Announcement - BASF will once again feature prominently on the programme of this year’s Coatings for Africa Symposium being held at the Sandton Convention Centre from May 11 to 13. As a gold sponsor of the event, BASF South Africa will present its broad portfolio of advanced solutions for architectural coatings during the 3-day conference programme that is aimed at connecting the entire value chain, from raw material supplier to end users of paint and coatings products such as construction, infrastructure, industrial and automotive sectors via the South African Distribution partner IMCD. BASF South Africa’s Dispersion and Pigment Division’s portfolio includes pigments and pigment preparations, dispersions, formulation additives and performance additives.

During the symposium, several world authorities in the coatings industry will be delivering papers on the latest developments in global technology in the field. BASF SE’s Manfred Jorna, Technical Marketer for Formulation Additives in the Nordic countries and Benelux coating market in Europe as well as for the EMEA region, and who has 30 years’ experience in the industry, will present a paper entitled “New, high performing formulation additives for waterborne paints and coatings” which will cover topics including pigment dispersing agents, defoamers and wetting and leveling agents.  During his presentation Jorna will outline a novel technology that allows the creation of tailor-made, highly effective polymer architectures for aqueous pigment dispersants. He will also describe the polymeric structure and performance highlights of a recently developed wetting and leveling agent for waterborne coatings.

According to BASF South Africa and Sub-Sahara Vice-President and Head of Business Center, Joan-Maria Garcia-Girona, sustainability is one of the fundamental focus topics across all BASF businesses which underpins the company’s corporate strategy of ‘We create chemistry for a sustainable future’.  “The need for action to ensure sustainable development is crucial for our future,” he says. “As the worldwide demand for resources continues to grow, societies and industries must take steps to balance economic, environmental and social needs. BASF’s solutions for architectural coatings can act as significant enabler for more sustainable products. Raw materials that are compatible with health and environmental needs, coupled with a high level of technical expertise, enable us to deliver tailor-made comprehensive solutions that meet our customers’ specific demands, and through that make them more successful.”

BASF’s coatings raw material business focuses on helping customers reach sustainable formulation solutions. “With the paint and coatings market responding to increasing public expectations for environmentally compatible and health-friendly products, the coatings industry is at a turning point: the future belongs to companies that go beyond merely meeting standards and create paints and coatings that combine outstanding performance with sustainable properties,” says Garcia-Girona. Coatings for Africa 2015 is being presented by the SA Paint Manufacturing Association (SAPMA) and the Oil and Colour Chemists’ Association.  BASF is hosting the gala dinner on the Wednesday evening.