BASF management has imposed a comprehensive austerity program on the chemical company. The focus is on the company’s largest production site in Ludwigshafen.
The world’s largest chemical company, BASF, is suffering from cost pressure and high energy prices. As a result, the DAX-listed company launched another billion-euro savings program in February, including job cuts and the closure of plants. In particular, the main plant in Ludwigshafen, the group’s largest production site, is to be reorganized to increase profitability. This Thursday, the board of directors, led by the new CEO Markus Kamieth, will present the new strategy.
According to media reports, this could lead to a reorganization of the agricultural business. At the end of 2023, the Ludwigshafen-based company announced that it would set up its agricultural chemicals, battery materials, and paints and coatings businesses as legally independent subsidiaries. These areas are less closely linked to the rest of the group, it said.
Former CEO Martin Brudermüller had rejected the idea of selling the divisions. According to media reports, there are now plans to prepare the agrochemicals division for an IPO worth billions. In the second quarter of the current year, lower sales prices and significantly worse business with agrochemicals had a negative impact on BASF’s figures.
BASF had already announced an extensive savings program in 2022. This is intended to reduce annual costs by a total of 1.1 billion euros by the end of 2026. The plan is to cut around 3,300 jobs worldwide, including 700 jobs in production in Ludwigshafen, and to shut down several energy-intensive chemical plants.
According to the latest savings program, additional annual cost savings of one billion euros are to be made at the main plant by the end of 2026. It is still unclear how many jobs will be lost in Ludwigshafen.
Source: Stern
