BASF Forward AM to showcase nearly 40 additive manufacturing materials at TCT Asia 2021

BASF Forward AM, the 3D printing solutions brand of the German chemical giant, will exhibit nearly 40 additive manufacturing materials at TCT Asia 2021, held May 26-28 in Shanghai. The company also announced partnerships with multiple leading local additive manufacturing service bureaus to support rapidly growing demand in the Asia-Pacific market. The showcase spans Forward AM’s full portfolio, including photopolymers, polyamide powders, and metal filaments, targeting applications from prototyping to end-use production.

This announcement is a regional product-launch event within the broader materials segment of the AM industry. Forward AM is leveraging its parent company’s deep chemical engineering expertise to compete with specialized material suppliers like Evonik, Arkema, and Stratasys’ materials division. The move reflects the ongoing localization arc (Pattern P2) in the Chinese AM market, where Western material suppliers must establish local partnerships and service infrastructure to compete against domestic players like eSun and Polymaker. The nearly 40 materials on display signal a mature portfolio strategy, but the real competitive moat will depend on how deeply Forward AM integrates its materials into Chinese service bureau workflows and qualification processes.

For buyers and service bureaus in the APAC region, the practical takeaway is that Forward AM is investing in local inventory and technical support, which reduces lead times and qualification risk compared to importing materials from Europe. The partnerships with local service bureaus are the critical execution detail — without them, the material portfolio is just a catalog. The company must now demonstrate that these partnerships translate into consistent material availability and application engineering support, not just a booth display at TCT Asia.