BASF and SINOPEC have announced they will build a new world-scale production plant for Neopentylglycol (NPG), used in synthetic lubricants, at their state-of-the-art Verbund site, BASF-YPC Co., Ltd., a 50-50 joint venture in Nanjing, China. The plant, with a total annual capacity of about 40,000 metric tons, is planned to go on stream at the end of 2015.