German chemicals giant, headquartered in Ludwigshafen. Germany's biggest industrial consumer of Russian gas—its vast Ludwigshafen plant used to guzzle around 4% of Germany's gas purchases. The loss of cheap Russian gas after the war in Ukraine hit BASF hard and it lost its crown as the world's biggest chemicals company by revenue to a Chinese rival. Its European sites now get most of their gas from Norway.
Markus Kamieth, a 27-year BASF veteran and former head of its Asian operations, succeeded Martin Brudermüller as chief executive in April 2024. He closed some operations in Ludwigshafen, Knapsack and Frankfurt, and cut costs by €1.7bn in 2025—€100m more than his initial target—with another €2.3bn targeted for 2026. In October 2025 he sold 60% of BASF's coatings business for €7.7bn to Carlyle, a private-equity firm, over €1bn more than analysts had expected. He plans to list the agricultural unit on the Frankfurt stock exchange. BASF made a net profit of €560m in the fourth quarter of 2025, after a €786m loss a year earlier, and is buying back €1.5bn-worth of shares. EBITDA guidance for 2026 lies between €6.2bn and €7bn.
BASF has invested $10bn in a plant in Zhanjiang, in southern China, which has not yet yielded a profit. Zhanjiang is the firm's third-largest plant after Ludwigshafen and Antwerp. It has 28 other plants in China. Despite China's importance—accounting for around half of the world's chemicals demand and the bulk of its growth—it brings in just 13% of BASF's sales. BASF produces "local for local" in China, making it less exposed than many rivals to disruptions of global trade.
BASF has no production sites in the Gulf. Around one-quarter of the world's supply of chemicals such as ethylene and ammonia are stuck behind the Strait of Hormuz, which could hurt BASF's rivals but benefit some of its own divisions. Bernstein Research estimated that a month of war could decrease BASF's EBITDA guidance by 3%, three months by 10% and ten months by 32%, mainly through demand destruction.
"Spare no expense to save money on this one."