 | |
| Company type | Public (Societas Europaea) |
|---|---|
| ISIN | DE000BASF111 |
| Industry | Chemicals |
| Predecessor | Knoll AG Chemische Fabriken Zuckerfabrik Körbisdorf Herbol  |
| Founded | 6 April 1865; 159 years ago (1865-04-06) (as Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik);Mannheim,Baden,Germany |
| Founder | Friedrich Engelhorn |
| Headquarters | Ludwigshafen, Germany |
Key people |
|
| Products | Chemicals, plastics, performance chemicals,catalysts,coatings,crop technology,crude oil and natural gasexploration and production |
| Revenue |  €68.9 billion (2023)[1] |
| €2.24 billion (2023)[1] | |
 €225 million (2023)[1] | |
| Total assets | €77.4 billion (2023)[1] |
| Total equity | €36.6 billion (2023)[1] |
Number of employees | 111,991 (end 2023)[1] |
| Subsidiaries | Wintershall, Nunhems, TrinamiX,Cognis, BTC Europe, Chemster, Siegfried PharmaChemikalien Minden,Verenium Corporation, Isobionics, Succinity, Pinturas Thermicas del Norte |
| Website | basf |
BASF SE (German pronunciation:[beːaːɛsˈʔɛf]ⓘ), aninitialism of its original nameBadische Anilin- und Sodafabrik (German for 'BadenAniline and Soda Factory'), is a Europeanmultinational company and thelargest chemical producer in the world.[2][3][4] Its headquarters are located inLudwigshafen, Germany.
BASF comprisessubsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries, operating six integrated production sites and 390 other production sites acrossEurope,Asia,Australia, theAmericas andAfrica.[5] BASF has customers in over 190 countries and supplies products to a wide variety of industries. Despite its size and global presence, BASF has received relatively little public attention since it abandoned the manufacture and sale of BASF-brandedconsumer electronics products in the 1990s.[6]
The company began as a dye manufacturer in 1865.Fritz Haber worked withCarl Bosch, one of its employees, to invent theHaber-Bosch process by 1912, after which the company grew rapidly. In 1925, the company merged with several other German chemical companies to become the chemicals conglomerateIG Farben. IG Farben would go on to play a major role in theeconomy of Nazi Germany. It extensively employed forced andslave labor during the Nazi period, and produced the notoriousZyklon B chemical used inThe Holocaust. IG Farben was disestablished by the Allies in 1945. BASF was reconstituted from the remnants of IG Farben in 1952. It was part of theGerman economic miracle, and has since expanded considerably. It has received modern criticism for its poor environmental record.[citation needed]
At the end of 2019, the company employed 117,628 people, with over 54,000 in Germany.[7] In 2019[update], BASF posted sales of €59.3 billion and income from operations before special items of about €4.5 billion. Between 1990 and 2005, the company invested €5.6 billion in Asia, specifically in sites nearNanjing,Shanghai andZhanjiang inChina andMangalore inIndia.[8] BASF is listed on theFrankfurt Stock Exchange,London Stock Exchange, andZurich Stock Exchange. The company delisted itsADR from theNew York Stock Exchange in September 2007.[9] The company is a component of theEuro Stoxx 50stock market index.[10][11]
BASF is anacronym forBadische Anilin- und Sodafabrik (German for 'Baden Aniline and Soda Factory'). It was founded byFriedrich Engelhorn on 6 April 1865 inMannheim, in the German-speaking state ofBaden. Engelhorn had been responsible for setting up agasworks and street lighting for the town council in 1861. The gasworks producedtar as a by-product from coal, and Engelhorn used this to extractaniline for the production ofdyes. BASF was set up in 1865, to produce other chemicals necessary for dye production, notably soda and acids. The plant, however, was erected on the other side of theRhine river atLudwigshafen because the town council of Mannheim was afraid that the air pollution from the chemical plant could bother the inhabitants of the town. In 1866, the dye production processes were also moved to the BASF site.[12]
The discovery in 1857 byWilliam Henry Perkin thataniline could be used to make intense colouring agents had led to the commercial production of synthetic dyes in England from aniline extracted from coal tar. BASF recruitedHeinrich Caro, a German chemist with experience of the dyestuff industry in England, to be the first head of research.[13] Caro developed a synthesis foralizarin (a red dye used for dying textile fabrics) and applied for a British patent on 25 June 1869. Coincidentally, Perkin applied for a virtually identical patent on 26 June 1869, and the two companies came to a mutual commercial agreement about the process.[12]
Further patents were granted for the synthesis ofmethylene blue andeosin, and in 1880, research began to try to find a synthetic process forindigo dye, though this was not successfully brought to the market until 1897. In 1901, some 80% of the BASF production was dyestuffs.[12]
Sodium carbonate (soda) was produced by theLeblanc process until 1880, when the much cheaperSolvay process became available. BASF ceased to make its own and bought it from theSolvay company thereafter.[12]
Sulfuric acid was initially produced by thelead chamber process, but in 1890, a unit using thecontact process was brought on stream, producing the acid at higher concentration (98% instead of 80%) and a lower cost. This development followed extensive research and development by Rudolf Knietsch, for which he received theLiebig Medal in 1904.[12]
The development of theHaber process from 1908 to 1912, made it possible to synthesizeammonia (a major industrial chemical as the primary source of nitrogen), and, after acquiring exclusive rights to the process, in 1913, BASF started a new production plant inOppau, addingfertilizers to its product range. BASF also acquired and began mininganhydrite forgypsum at theKohnstein in 1917.[14]
In 1916, BASF started operations at anew site in Leuna, whereexplosives were produced during theFirst World War. On 21 September 1921, an explosion occurred inOppau, killing 565 people. TheOppau explosion was the biggest industrial accident in German history.
Under the leadership ofCarl Bosch, BASF foundedIG Farben withHoechst,Bayer, and three other companies, thus losing its independence. BASF was the nominal survivor, as all shares were exchanged for BASF shares before the merger. Rubber,fuels, andcoatings were added to the range of products.
In 1935, IG Farben andAEG presented themagnetophon – the firsttape recorder – at theRadio Exhibition in Berlin.[15][16]
After the appointment ofAdolf Hitler as Chancellor in 1933,IG Farben cooperated with theNational Socialist government, profiting from guaranteed volumes and prices and, in time, fromforced ("unfree") labour provided through governmentalconcentration camps. BASF (leader of the chemical industry of the IG Farben) built a 24 km2 chemical factory in Auschwitz named "IG Auschwitz", the largest chemical factory in the world at the time. IG Farben became notorious through its production ofZyklon-B, the lethal gas used to kill prisoners in German extermination camps during theHolocaust.[17]
IG Farben made extensive use of forced labor during WWII consisting mostly of drafted "service-duty" Germans, foreign workers from German-occupied territories, and prisoners of war. By 1943, nearly one-half of all IG Farben workers were forced laborers housed in factory-camp facilities. This number did not include the 51,445 concentration camp laborers supplied by the Nazis. Spread out over 23 facilities, it is estimated that 31,500–33,500 of those concentration camp inmates were killed by authorities or died from starvation, exhaustion, or disease.[18][19]
The Ludwigshafen site was almost completely destroyed during theSecond World War but was subsequently rebuilt. Theallies dissolved IG Farben in November 1945.[citation needed]
Both the Ludwigshafen and Oppau plants were of strategic importance for the war because the German military needed many of their products (e.g., synthetic rubber and gasoline). As a result, they were major targets for air raids. During the war, Allied bombers attacked the plants a total of 65 times.
Bombing took place from the autumn of 1943 and saturation bombing inflicted extensive damage. Production virtually stopped by the end of 1944.
Due to a shortage of male workers during the war, women wereconscripted to work in the factories, joined later byprisoners of war and foreign civilians. Concentration camp inmates did not work at the Ludwigshafen and Oppau plants.
In July 1945, the American military administration confiscated all IG Farben assets. That same year, the Allied Commission decreed that IG Farben should be dissolved. The sites at Ludwigshafen and Oppau were controlled by French authorities.[citation needed]
On 28 July 1948, an explosion occurred at a BASF site inLudwigshafen, killing 207 people and injuring 3818.[20] In 1952, BASF was refounded under its name following the efforts of formerNazi Party memberCarl Wurster, who served inNazi Germany asWehrwirtschaftsführer (war economy leader). With theGerman economic miracle in the 1950s, BASF added synthetics such as nylon to its product range. BASF developedPolystyrene in the 1930s and invented Styropor in 1951.
In the 1960s, production abroad was expanded and plants were built inArgentina,Australia,Belgium,Brazil,France,India,Italy,Japan,Mexico,Spain,United Kingdom and theUnited States. Following a change in corporate strategy in 1965, greater emphasis was placed on higher-value products such as coatings,pharmaceuticals,pesticides and fertilizers. FollowingGerman reunification, BASF acquired a site inSchwarzheide,Eastern Germany, on 25 October 1990.
In 1968, BASF (together withBayer AG) bought the German coatings companyHerbol. BASF completely took over the Herbol branches inCologne andWürzburg in 1970. Under new management, the renewal and expansion of the trademark continued. After an extensive reorganisation and an increasing international orientation of the coatings business, Herbol became part of the new founded Deco GmbH in 1997.
BASF bought the Wyandotte Chemical Company, and its Geismar, Louisiana chemical plant in the early 1970s.[21] The plant produced plastics, herbicides, and antifreeze. BASF soon tried to operate union-free, having already reduced or eliminated union membership in several other US plants. Challenging the Geismar OCAW union resulted in a labor dispute that saw members locked out from 1984 to 1989, and eventually winning their case. A worker solidarity committee at BASF's headquarters plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany, took donations from German workers to support the American strikers and organized rallies and publicity in support. The dispute was the subject of an academic study.[22] The union also exposed major accidental releases of phosgene, toluene and other toxic gases, these being publicized in the local media and through a video,Out of Control.[21][23] A court threw out a $66,700 fine against BASF for five environmental violations as "too small".[21]
BASF's European coatings business was taken over byAkzoNobel in 1999.
BASF bought theEngelhard Corporation for $4.8 billion in 2006. Other acquisitions in 2006, were the purchase of Johnson Polymer and the construction chemicals business ofDegussa.
The acquisition of Johnson Polymer was completed on 1 July 2006. The purchase price was $470 million on a cash and debt-free basis. It provided BASF with a range of water-basedresins that complements its portfolio of high solids and UV resins for the coatings and paints industry and strengthened the company's market presence, particularly in North America.
The acquisition of Degussa AG's construction chemicals business was completed in 2006. The purchase price for equity was about €2.2 billion. In addition, the transaction was associated with a debt of €500 million.
The company agreed to acquireCiba (formerly part ofCiba-Geigy) in September 2008.[24] The proposed deal was reviewed by theEuropean Commissioner for Competition. On 9 April 2009, the acquisition was officially completed.[25][26]
On 19 December 2008, BASF acquired U.S.-based Whitmire Micro-Gen together with U.K.-based Sorex Ltd.[27] Sorex is a manufacturer of branded chemical and non-chemical products for professional pest management. In March 2007 Sorex was put up for sale with a price tag of about £100 million.[28]
In December 2010, BASF completed the acquisition ofCognis.[29]
In May 2015, BASF agreed to sell parts of its pharmaceutical ingredients business to Swiss drug manufacturer Siegfried Holding for a fee of €270 million, including assumed debt.[30]
Since 2016, BASF has partnered with a subsidiary ofXinjiang Zhongtai Group, a company sanctioned under theUyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, to operate a plant inKorla.[31]
In October 2017, BASF announced it would buy seed and herbicide businesses fromBayer for €5.9 billion ($7 billion), as part of Bayer's acquisition ofMonsanto.[32][33]
The company announced the start of a US$10 billion investment project in the south-western Chinese city ofZhanjiang, in November 2019. The project was approved in 2022.[34] This ″Verbund″ site is intended for the production of engineering plastics and TPU. The site would be the third-largest BASF site worldwide, following Ludwigshafen, Germany, andAntwerp, Belgium. The first plant started up in 2022, and the entire site is expected to be completed by 2030.[35][36][37]
In August 2019, BASF agreed to sell its global pigments business to Japanese fine chemical companyDIC for €1.15 billion ($1.28 billion) on a cash and debt-free basis.[38]
In September 2019, BASF signed an agreement with DuPont Safety & Construction, a subsidiary business unit ofDuPont, to sell its ultrafiltration membrane business, Inge GmbH.[39] According to BASF executives, Inge GmbH and its products fit better with DuPont and their business strategy.[39]
In February 2023, BASF announced that the company is planning to close one of its two ammonia factories at its site in Ludwigshafen, this comes as part of the companies plans to cut costs as the organisation has struggled with high energy costs. The result of the organisations plans will lead to increased production in China while resulting in the loss of 2,600 jobs.[40] The Zhanjiang plant extends over 400 hectares and serves mainly the electronic industry and the automotive industry.[41] In September 2023 BASF broke ground on its Zhanjiangsyngas plant; the plant was due to be commissioned by 2025.[42] In November 2023 the firm closed a $5bn 15-year investment deal in China, with Chinese banks.[43]
As of April 2023, BASF had 30 production facilities in China. CEOMartin Brudermüller held that Chinese revenue is essential to grow his European business in the face of "Europe’s high energy costs and stringent environmental rules."[44]
With the help of then German ChancellorGerhard Schröder, BASF'sJürgen Hambrecht signed theGazpromNord Stream-Yuzhno-Russkoye deal in 2004 with a 49-51 structure, as opposed to the older 50-50 split of for exampleBP'sTNK-BP project.[45][46] Putin at the time insisted on majority Russian ownership of any joint-venture in Russian territory since that time.[45]
BASF expanded toPodolsk,Russia, in 2012, and toKazan in 2013.[47]
On 27 January 2020, the first-ever lawsuit concerningDicamba-related products began in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.[48][49] The lawsuit involves a peach farmer who alleged that Dicamba-based herbicides caused significant damage to his crops and trees.[50] It had also been filed in November 2016, when Dicamba was still owned by Monsanto.[51][52][53] On 14 February 2020, the jury involved in the lawsuit ruled against BASF and its co-defendantBayer, which had acquiredMonsanto and its products, and found in favor of the peach grower, Bader Farms owner Bill Bader.[54] BASF and Bayer were also ordered to pay Bader $15 million in damages.[55] On 15 February 2020, Monsanto and BASF were ordered to pay an additional $250 million in punitive damages.[56][57]
For the fiscal year 2017, BASF reported earnings of €6.1 billion, with an annual revenue of €64.5 billion, an increase of 12% over the previous fiscal cycle.[58] BASF's shares traded at over €69 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at €63.7 billion in November 2018.[59] In October 2019, BASF reported a drop of operating income for July to September amounting to 24 percent, along with a drop in EBIT earnings of €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion).[60] TheUS–China trade war as well as uncertainties related toBrexit were identified as contributing factors.[60] However, overall third quarter profit beat expectations as the acquisition ofBayer AG'sagrochemical andseed business help to offset some of the effects of the trade war.[61]
| Year | Revenue in bn. € | Net income in bn. € | Total assets in bn. € | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 73.973 | 4.842 | 64.382 | 112,206 |
| 2014 | 74.326 | 5.155 | 71.359 | 113,292 |
| 2015 | 70.449 | 3.987 | 70.836 | 112,435 |
| 2016 | 57.550 | 4.056 | 76.496 | 113,830 |
| 2017 | 61.223 | 6.078 | 78.768 | 115,490 |
| 2018 | 62.675 | 4.707 | 86.556 | 122,404 |
| 2019 | 59.316 | 8.421 | 86.950 | 117,628 |
| 2020 | 59.149 | −1.060 | 80.292 | 110,302 |
| 2021 | 78.598 | 5.523 | 87.383 | 111,047 |
| 2022 | 87.327 | −0.627 | 84.472 | 111,481 |
| 2023 | 68.902 | 0.225 | 77.395 | 111,991 |
BASF operates in a variety of markets. As of 2020 its business is organized in the segments of Chemicals, Plastics, Performance Products, Functional Solutions, Agricultural Solutions, and Oil and Gas.[citation needed]
BASF produces a wide range of chemicals such as solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals,industrial gases, basic petrochemicals, and inorganic chemicals (such asZ-Cote). The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile, and automotive industries.
BASF's plastic products include high-performance materials inthermoplastics, foams, and urethanes.[62]
Engineering Plastics
BASF's Engineering Plastics consists of the "4 Ultras" – Ultramidpolyamide (PA) nylon-based resins, Ultradur,polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Ultraform,polyacetal (POM), and Ultrason,polysulfone (PSU) andpolyethersulfone (PES).
Styrenics
BASF Styrenics consists of the Foams and Copolymers. BASF'sstyrenic copolymers have applications in electronics, building and construction, and automotive components. In 2011 BASF andINEOS blended their global business activities in the fields ofstyrene monomers (SM),polystyrene (PS),acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), styrene butadiene copolymers (SBC) and other styrene-basedcopolymers (SAN, AMSAN, ASA, MABS) into a joint venture namedStyrolution.[63]
Polyurethanes
BASF'sPolyurethanes business consists of diverse technologies and finished products. Urethane chemicals are raw materials used in rigid and flexible foams commonly used for insulation in the construction and appliance industries, furniture, packaging, and transportation.
Foams
Foams like Styropor are generally used as insulating materials. They are eco-efficient and offer advantages over other materials in terms of cost-effectiveness, preservation of resources and environmental protection. Investments made for insulating materials usually pay for themselves within a short time and contribute to retaining and even enhancing the value of buildings.
Polyamides and Intermediates
BASF manufactures polyamide precursors andpolyamide.
Biodegradable plastics
BASF developed abiodegradable plastic with a high content ofpolylactic acid.[citation needed]
BASF produces a range of performance chemicals,coatings andfunctional polymers. These include raw materials for detergents, textile and leather chemicals, pigments and raw materials for adhesives,paper chemicals. Customers are the automotive, oil, paper, packaging, textile, sanitary products, detergents, construction materials, coatings, printing, and leather industries.
BASF's Functional Solutions segment consists of the Catalysts, Construction Chemicals and Coatings divisions. These divisions develop customer-specific products, in particular for the automotive and construction industries.
BASF supplies agricultural products and chemicals includingfungicides,herbicides,insecticides and seed treatment products.[64][65] The company also researchesnutrigenomics.[66] BASF opened a new crop protection technology center in Limburgerhof, Germany in 2016.[67]
BASF was cooperating withMonsanto Company in research, development and marketing of biotechnology.[68] In correlation to this work, BASF has licensed many gene editing tools includingCRISPRCas9 and CRISPRCas12a (Cpf1).[69][70]
TheBASF Plant Science subsidiary produces theAmflora and Starch Potatogenetically modified potato with reducedamylose.[71][72] In 2010 BASF conducted Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs approved trials of genetically modified potatoes in the United Kingdom.[73] Starch Potato was authorised for use in the USA[72] in 2014.
Other GM crops are Phytaseed Canola varieties withphytase,sulfonylurea herbicide tolerantsoybean[74] and drought tolerant corn (with cold shock protein B) developed with Monsanto.[75]
BASF explores for and produces oil and gas through its subsidiaryWintershall Dea.
Each of the divisions of BASF has a President. They are governed by a Chairman andCEO.
75% of the BASF shares are held byinstitutional investors (BlackRock more than 5%). 36% of the shares are held in Germany, 11% in the UK and 17% in the U.S.
BASF's recent success is characterized by a focus on creating resource efficient product lines after completely abandoning consumer products. This strategy was reflected in production by a re-focus towards integrated production sites. The largest such integrated production site is located inLudwigshafen employing 33,000 people.
Integrated production sites are characterized by co-location of many individual production lines (producing a specific chemical), which share an interconnected material flow. Piping is used ubiquitously for volume materials. All production lines use common raw material sourcing and feed back waste resources, which can be used elsewhere (e.g. steam of various temperatures, sulfuric acid, carbon monoxide). The economic incentive for this approach is high resource and energy efficiency of the overall process, reduced shipping cost and associated reduced risk of accidents. Due to the high cost of such an integrated production site, it establishes a high entry barrier for competitors trying to enter the market for volume chemicals.
BASF built a new chemical complex inDahej, Gujarat at a cost of $100 million. This facility has South Asia's firstmethylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) splitter for processing crude MDI. BASF has 8 production facilities inIndia.[76]
BASF SE has succeeded in developing a semi-crystalline polyamide that allows light to pass through largely unhindered, known as Ultramid.[77]
According to the 2022 "Top 100 Polluters Indexes" published by theUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst's "Political Economy Research Institute" (PERI), BASF was ranked the #2 largest polluter of air and #14 largest polluter of water in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available from the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency.[78]
In 2006, BASF was included in the Climate Leadership Index for their efforts in relation toclimate change andgreenhouse gas emissions.[79]
The BASF Company andColumbia University formed a partnership to further research "environmentally benign andsustainable energy sources". The company has recently reported their emissions in 2006 to be "1.50 million metric tons of waste," which is a decrease from previous years. The amount of waste BASF produces has continued to fall.[80]
While BASF publishes its environmental information in the US and Europe,Greenpeace has expressed deep concerns at BASF's refusal to release environmental information on its operations in China.[81]
In May 2009, a BASF Plant inHannibal, Missouri, United States, accidentally discharged chromium into theMississippi River. The local Department of Natural Resources performed tests in December 2009 showing thechromium levels did not exceed regulatory safety limits.[82] BASF worked with theMissouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) to resolve questions regarding the elevated level ofhexavalent chromium that was detected in theeffluent from one of its permitted outfalls into theMississippi River. The state department of health reviewed the test results and determined that the amounts found were well below recommended public health screening levels.[83]
In 2013, BASF reported a spill of several hundred kilogrammes of thechelating agent Trilon-B (tetrasodiumEdta) into the riverRhine from BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany.[84] BASF has instituted an eco-efficiency analysis to promote green engineering principles.[85]
BASF works on supporting water, sanitation, education and health programmes as part of its social responsibility commitments.[86] In a unique program technically supported byEdward & Cynthia Institute of Public Health, BASF implemented Project SAFE ( Safety and Farm Efficiency).[87]
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