Chemical giant BASF announced on Tuesday that it will invest in a new citral plant as part of its site in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, as well as in menthol and linalool plants at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

"These plants are expected to come on stream from 2026 onward," BASF said in a news release.

The investment is driven by a growing demand in the global flavor and fragrance market, and BASF's strong commitment to sustainability, it said.

The investment will expand and diversify BASF's aroma ingredient value chain footprint in Germany and Malaysia and support customers growth opportunities, the news release said.

The citral plant in China will strengthen BASF's position in key growth regions and increase production of a broad range of aroma ingredients and downstream products globally. With the investment, BASF's annual citral output will increase to 118,000 metric tons, it said.

"The expansion of our global production network benefits our customers in the flavor and fragrance industry by further strengthening supply security. Investing in Zhanjiang is also a significant step toward sustainable production and addressing our customers' demands for products with a lower carbon footprint," said Thilo Bischoff, senior vice-president of BASF Aroma Ingredients.

The full integration of the new plants into the sites in China and Germany will enable BASF to use optimize resources and create synergies efficiently.

At the Zhanjiang site, BASF will further accelerate its plan to power the entire site with renewable electricity, aiming to achieve 100 percent by 2025.

The company will also implement advanced automation and process technologies for optimal plant operations at the site to reduce energy consumption and emissions.

"The BASF Zhanjiang Verbund site is set to be a role model for sustainable production, which was a key decision factor in the location of the new citral plant," Bischoff said.