Bayer MaterialScience Inaugurates Polyurethane Systems House in Thailand
Oct 31, 2007
SAMUTPRAKARN, Thailand -- Bayer MaterialScience inaugurated its first integrated systems house in Thailand to bring tailor-made polyurethane solutions closer to customers in Southeast Asia.
BaySystems ASEAN, located at the Bangpoo Industrial Estate, Samutprakarn province, caters to the region's growing demand for customized polyurethane systems in many sectors such as appliance, construction, automotive, and the furniture sectors.
"Our global BaySystems network allows us to bring the latest polyurethane innovations and applications quickly to our customers around the world. Within this network we have the experience to support local, but also multinational companies that are aiming to develop oversea markets. Together with our customers we aim to increase awareness in the market and to further promote the use of polyurethane materials in a wide variety of applications", said Peter Vanacker, head of the Global Polyurethanes Business Unit and member of the Executive Committee of Bayer MaterialScience.
BaySystems ASEAN offers customized polyurethane systems based on proven global systems technology. They include Baytherm® used for appliances, Baymer® for construction, and Baydur® popularly used by furniture and home furnishing manufacturers as a wood substitution. It also offers complete BaySystems automotive solutions such as Baynat® and Baysafe® for both interior and exterior applications.
With these global systems brands and with a global network of R&D and technical centres in Europe, North and South America as well as in China and Japan as background, BaySystems ASEAN is well positioned to better serve multinational companies with manufacturing operations in Southeast Asia, such as Korean or Japanese companies.
Dr Azita Owlia, Head of Regional Marketing, Polyurethanes Marketing Asia Pacific, Bayer MaterialScience, said "BaySystems ASEAN will effectively cater to the rising demand for polyurethanes in the ASEAN region, which grows at approximately 5 percent a year, of which Thailand is a key market. With the new systems house we are well positioned to capture this growth, and support our customers in their growth." In Thailand alone, the size of the polyurethane market is expected to reach 90,000 metric tons by 2010, up from the current amount of 76,000 metric tons. Thailand accounts for more than 50 percent of the total systems business in the ASEAN region.
The systems house operates a laboratory at the Bangpoo site to support customers in several application requirements. The lab handles testing of end applications and fine tuning of polyurethane systems to meet OEM requirements.
BaySystems ASEAN, which also serves Australia and New Zealand, is the latest addition to Bayer MaterialScience's growing network of systems houses in Asia Pacific, with systems houses already operating in China, India, Japan, and Taiwan.
About BaySystems®
Effective March 1, 2007, Bayer MaterialScience combined its entire global polyurethane systems business under the umbrella brand of BaySystems®. This change affects not only existing product brands in this segment like the aforementioned ones, but also the global network of polyurethane systems houses and the company's support for customers.
About Bayer MaterialScience
With 2006 sales of 10.2 billion euros (continuing operations), Bayer MaterialScience is among the world's largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and the sports and leisure industries. At the end of 2006, Bayer MaterialScience had 30 production sites and employed approximately 14,900 people around the globe. Bayer MaterialScience is a Bayer Group company.
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in our annual and interim reports to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including our Form 20-F). The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
