Narayan AmmachchiGerman chemical giant BASF announced plans to open a state-of-the-art technology center in Montevideo, Uruguay, while putting its expansion efforts in Chile on hold.
The new facility, located in the heart of Uruguay’s capital, will employ 120 tech professionals, offering support to BASF’s operations across the region. It will also provide back-office services in finance and customer support.
BASF celebrates a decade of operations in Uruguay this year. It landed in Montevideo back in 2014, launching its own facility n the city’s World Trade Center. The office began operations with 300 people and now employes 1,000 across 14 departments, providing professional services to 72 BASF locations in 18 countries throughout the Americas.
Demand for BASF’s chemical services has surged since 2021. That convinced the company of growing its pressence in Uruguay, from where it provides service in multiple languages, including panish, English, Portuguese and French.
Despite these advancements in Uruguay, BASF has simultaneously opted to halt its plans for expansion in Chile.
The company has yet to provide an official reason for shelving its Chilean plans. Industry analysts speculate that regulatory challenges, economic uncertainties and Chile’s shifting political landscape may have played a role in this sudden reversal.
BASF had been exploring the possibility of entering the lithium mining sector through a partnership with Canada’s Wealth Minerals Ltd. and had even considered building a cathode plant to support Germany’s burgeoning electric vehicle industry. This move would have positioned Chile as a key supplier of minerals critical to electric vehicle production.
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