AlwaysFree: BASF: Chemical Industry To Grow At Slowest Pace In Over A Decade

BASF’s chairman Martin Brudermüller, during the company’s earnings calls last week, said that it expected that the global chemical production would grow by only 1.2% this year, the slowest since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis more than a decade ago. Despite the challenging market environment, BASF aims at surpassing the global chemical production growth rate. BASF plans to increase its sales to €60–63 billion ($66–69.3 billion) this year.

According to Brudermüller, the coronavirus outbreak in China would slow down global economic growth in the first half of the year, while contributing to the decline in global chemical production. He said that GDP growth in China, the world’s largest chemical market, would decelerate from 6.1% to 4.5% this year.

During the presentation, Brudermüller also revealed BASF’s plan to increase investments in the Asia-Pacific region. BASF’s spending in this region would surpass its expenditure in Europe over the next five years. BASF’s planned investments reached €23.6 billion ($26.02 billion) on growth priorities until 2024. About €8.2 ($9.04 billion) billion of it will be spent on BASF’s new verbund site in Guangdong, China. The chemical giant will also invest in a $4-billion proposed chemical complex in Mundra, India.

He also said that the gradual switch towards electromobility would create huge opportunities for the chemical industry. The company plans to build battery materials production facilities in Harjavalta, Finland, and Schwarzheide, Germany.

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