Basell announced today that it plans to relocate its North American headquarters from Elkton, Maryland to a new fit-for-purpose facility. The new facility will be the main location for all Basell commercial and administrative activity in North America, including sales and marketing, business management, finance, legal and human resources.

Basell currently employs 250 people at its Elkton site - approximately 180 people in commercial and administrative functions and the remainder in research and development.  Most of the commercial positions will be moved to the new facility before the end of this year. Basell is also evaluating new sites for its R&D activities. Basell intends to relocate the R&D jobs to a new location within the same time frame.

“We are currently evaluating sites in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, as well as the possibility of moving some functions to our manufacturing plants near the U.S. Gulf Coast,” said Michael Mulrooney, president of Basell North America. “We are in discussions with a number of property developers and state officials to find the best balance between business efficiency and operating economics while minimizing disruption to our employees.”

Basell expects to make a final decision on its new commercial and R&D locations before the end of May. The company also plans to market the Elkton facility for sale concurrently with the relocation process.

Basell is the global leader in polyolefins technology, production and marketing. It is the largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products; a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and the industry leader in developing, licensing and providing technical services for polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities around the world and sells products in more than 120 countries. Additional information about Basell is available at www.basell.com.

For more information contact Mark Mendelson, Basell Corporate Communications, at +1 410 996 1319 or mark.mendelson@basell.com

Basell to relocate North American headquarters