They don’t come much bigger than BASF, yet when it comes to dealing with the leather industry, the giant chemical company appears to have mastered the art of providing a personal and individual service for its clients. A visit to BASF Curtex in Barcelona, from which it runs its European Performance Chemicals for Leather business unit, provides the answer: it is far enough away from BASF headquarters in Ludwigshafen to have retained the local feel that came with the acquisition of the Curtex business in 1994, after BASF Española had become a partner and majority shareholder in the Spanish company back in 1970.

“Maintaining the balance has been vital to our success,” says BASF Curtex SA managing director Eckart Stein, who has been responsible for the European regional leather business unit since September 2001. “Leather is a core industry within the BASF Performance Chemicals segment. In the BASF group, Performance Products account for 25% of sales.” In 2002, the group had net sales of €32.2 billion ($36.6 billion).

Next to Ludwigshafen, Barcelona is the company’s most important production site for leather chemicals worldwide, producing over 500 products for the industry and exporting to more than 60 countries. Since 2000, BASF Leather Chemicals Europe has invested heavily in enhanced technical and customer service programmes, including the upgrade of facilities in Arzignano and in Barcelona, as well as maintaining 12 service centres in the main areas of leather production. It is a very clear statement of the company’s commitment to the leather industry in Europe. At the same time, it has built new dyestuff blending facilities, an expanded polyurethane dispersions capacity and an upgrade of the production unit for pigment preparations in Barcelona.

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