BASF said its Industrial Coatings business group has opened an office in Houston to support the business’s activities in the North American oil and gas pipeline market.

BASF Corp., Mount Olive, NJ, said its Industrial Coatings business group has opened an office in Houston to support the business’s activities in the North American oil and gas pipeline market. Mark Smith has been named product manager for BASF’s protective pipeline coatings in North America and will head the Houston office. Smith formerly held a similar position with the company in Europe. The company will offer supply capabilities for industrial powder coatings for pipeline applications in mid-2000, when a new powder-coating manufacturing plant in Morganton, NC, begins operation.