Schütz invests in an IBC production facility at BASF’s plant in Ludwigshafen

BASF and Schütz have signed an agreement for the construction of a highly automated production and storage facility for intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) at the BASF headquarters in Ludwigshafen. The new IBC production facility will ensure the secure, long-term supply of industrial packaging to the BASF plant. Work on building the IBC production facility is scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2026.

Schütz has teamed up with BASF to develop a new, comprehensive concept for the supply of industrial packaging to the site, in the course of which Schütz’s future production facility and the chemical site will be closely interlinked in terms of infrastructure and logistics. A core component is the construction of a state-of-the-art IBC manufacturing plant on a site directly adjacent to the chemical company’s factory perimeter. The concept also includes an advanced, digitalised packaging warehouse that will be integrated in the container production facility, and the continued roll-out of the reuse, reconditioning and recycling of used packaging containers. “This project is not only a bold signal for sustainable site development; it also stands for highly-efficient, customer-specific on-site solutions and the further expansion of our role as a strategic partner to the industrial sector,” says Roland Strassburger, CEO of the Schütz Group.

“The targeted attraction of long-standing partners and the investment in production capacities close to the site create decisive structural advantages for our main plant,” says Helmut Winterling, President European Verbund Sites, BASF SE. “The integration of IBC manufacturing into our material and production cycles strengthens our competitiveness in the long term.”

“Schütz’s new site close to our facility creates maximum supply security for our operations. The proximity and integration keep transport routes short and allow us to respond flexibly at all times to changing demands in our production plants and facilities,” says Uwe Lohr, Senior Vice President Global Indirect Procurement, BASF SE.

The collaboration between BASF and Schütz dates back to the 1960s. A milestone was the development of the world’s first IBC in 1975 by Udo Schütz in close cooperation with BASF – an innovation that fast became the standard for industrial packaging worldwide. At the BASF site in Ludwigshafen, the classic intermediate bulk container is used, among other things, for the storage and transport of chemical products in liquid form; these typically include chemical bases such as dispersions, additives and surfactants. Today, Schütz operates a global production network with more than 70 locations and supplies BASF sites worldwide as well as numerous other customers across a wide range of industries.