Status: 11.11.2023, 18:59 PM
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Flags of BASF in Ludwigshafen am Rhein © Herrmann Agency Photography/Imago
According to a media investigation, BASF's Chinese joint venture partner is suspected of employing forced laborers in Xinjiang.
The German chemical company therefore now wants to have another review carried out, as the Handelsblatt reported on Sunday. According to the report, shareholders of Markor, BASF's joint venture partner in Xinjiang, are suspected of employing forced laborers. These are the Zhongtai Group and its subsidiary Zhongtai Chemical.
The Zhongtai Group was placed on a U.S. sanctions list for products from Xinjiang by the U.S. on the basis of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in September. Zhongtai Chemical has been on the sanctions list since June.
BASF operates two joint ventures in the industrial zone of the city of Korla. According to the report, according to BASF, the Zhongtai Group indirectly holds minority shares in joint venture partner Markor through two investment companies. Zhongtai Chemical is said to hold 24 percent of Markor's shares. According to the report, this was the result of an analysis by the software company Datenna, which evaluates data from public sources.
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BASF takes the publications on Xinjiang "very seriously" and as an opportunity to regularly review labor relations at the sites of the joint ventures in Korla, the company is quoted as saying in the report. After an internal audit in 2019 and an external audit in 2020, another internal audit was carried out at the joint venture operations at the beginning of 2023. "As a result, we can conclude that none of these reviews found evidence of forced labor or other human rights violations," the report said. BASF is therefore also in contact with Markor on the topic.
BASF also wants to have another review carried out: "We are currently in concrete talks with a renowned auditing firm to renew our joint venture audit from 2020," the company said, according to Handelsblatt. Ari