BASF and South Korea's Dong-il CNE have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Strategic Cooperation to jointly develop new lightweight utility poles, oil and gas pipelines, and other solutions for advanced infrastructure.
Dong-il CNE is the only company in Korea dedicated to providing one-stop service to environmental pollution prevention and manufacturing.
As an initial cooperation between the two parties, Dong-il CNE will provide specialized manufacturing technologies to assist in the production of utility poles under the BASF brand, which are made from BASF's Elastolit polyurethane.
Both parties will also work together to explore the development of other lightweight products to meet the growing demand for stronger, lighter composite products in the construction and infrastructure industries.
According to the memorandum, BASF and Dong-il CNE will also explore a variety of new product manufacturing processes, including polyurethane pultrusion, polyurethane carbon filament winding, and oil and gas pipelines made with polyurethane filament winding.
Made from polyurethane and BASF's unique fiber winding process, the poles are lightweight, yet strong, with good flexibility, and they withstand the harsh weather of typhoons and can be optimized for specific weather conditions. In addition, polyurethane poles are lighter, more durable and more resilient than substituted cement poles.
Andy Postlethwaite, BASF's Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Business in Asia Pacific, said: "We are excited to be working with Dong-il CNE to identify new market opportunities and enter the global composite market. By 2021, the global composite market Nearly 40 billion U.S. dollars are expected and our ultralight utility poles will help provide a steady stream of electricity to cities across Asia, especially in areas where the frequent bad weather, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Australia, '
Choi, Young Ki, President of Dong-il CNE, said: 'By combining BASF's diverse capabilities in composite materials and technology with our comprehensive manufacturing capabilities, we will jointly develop new materials products to help address population growth across Asia Challenge to urban infrastructure. '