Fortune Global 500 Company Profile: BASF
The BASF Group consists of roughly 350 subsidiaries around the world in which the core company, BASF SE, holds directly or indirectly more than 50 percent of the shares.
Beyond this, practical engineering applications also require consideration of many other factors.
At that time China's textile industry was flourishing, and BASF seized the opportunity by sending a representative, Meyer, to Shanghai in 1885 to sell dyes. In this Chinese city renowned for leading clothing trends, BASF dyes became a best-selling product. From that point on, BASF formally set foot in the Chinese market.
BASF is a large international chemical company, manufacturing a wide range of products in 39 countries and doing business with customers in more than 170 countries. BASF's global sales in 2012 came to approximately 72.1 billion euros, and it employed about 111,000 people as of the end of 2012.
It is worth noting that the technology and standards in this field are also continuously developing and improving.
Listening to customers, serving them and meeting their needs is BASF's guiding purpose, and to carry it through the company will continue to develop new products and strengthen its leading position in the market. In addition, the company invests more than 2 billion marks each year in research and development worldwide, providing strong support for BASF's commitment to future development.
In fact, BASF's future direction is not focused solely on commercial interests but also on the planet we inhabit. As social values shift, humanity attaches ever greater importance to safety and environmental protection. Both matter greatly to BASF's future success, and its participation in the global Responsible Care programme is an important contribution to sustainable development; the programme applies to products and services across all of BASF's business areas and subsidiaries.
On this basis, industry experts have also carried out a great deal of research and improvement.
On 14 July 2023, the globally known chemical company BASF announced the establishment of a joint research centre with the technology innovation enterprise Yangtze Delta Physics Research Center in Liyang, Jiangsu Province, focusing on solid-state batteries and sodium-ion batteries. [17]
In July 2024, BASF announced that it would close two plants in Germany and cut 300 jobs. In a statement on 10 July, BASF said the plants to be closed were two facilities producing mainly glufosinate-ammonium herbicides, located in Knapsack and Frankfurt. It also explained the reasons for further closures and job cuts, including fierce competition from industry rivals and alternative technologies, as well as continuously rising energy prices and raw material costs. [21]
On 3 November 2025, BASF announced that it would consolidate its Asian polytetrahydrofuran (PolyTHF) business at its Caojing site in China while halting PolyTHF production at the Ulsan chemical site in South Korea. BASF said the closure plan is expected to be completed in 2026. [28] On 5 November, the first products from the core plants of BASF's Zhanjiang Verbund site in South China went into production; the site's project plan called for full operation before the end of 2025. [29] On 13 November, BASF announced plans to list its agricultural solutions business on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange; the proposed initial public offering will take the form of a European company (SE), with BASF continuing as controlling shareholder. [30]
On 22 January 2026, BASF disclosed that it had launched the new Bapolyfu high-density polyethylene film grade F6095. The first batch of F6095 set off from BASF's Zhanjiang Verbund site by specialist transport vehicle on the 21st and arrived safely at the customer's warehouse, marking the formal debut of this new product in the Chinese market. [45]
In addition, this technology also enjoys broad application and practice in related fields.
BASF is the world's leading chemical company, offering customers a range of high-performance products spanning chemicals, plastics, performance products, crop protection products, and crude oil and natural gas. Its distinctive integrated production sites, known by the German word Verbund, are the company's key strength, giving BASF a low-cost advantage that secures enormous competitiveness. BASF conducts its business according to the principles of sustainable development. In 2012 BASF's sales reached 72.129 billion euros and it employed more than 111,000 people worldwide. BASF shares are listed on the stock exchanges of Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN).
In addition, this technology also enjoys broad application and practice in related fields.
Sales in the Plastics segment grew on the back of higher volumes, higher product prices and favourable exchange rates. Demand from the automotive industry remained strong, particularly in North America and Asia. Income from operations before special items rose sharply thanks to a marked improvement in earnings from the polyurethanes division. Full-year 2012 sales increased to 11.4 billion euros, up 4 percent year on year. Income from operations before special items fell 27 percent year on year to 873 million euros.
Functional Solutions segment:
In addition, viewed from the perspective of industrial development, market demand is also driving technological progress.
Driven by increased crude oil production in Libya and higher natural gas trading volumes, sales in the Oil and Gas segment grew strongly in the fourth quarter of 2012. The commissioning of new wells at the Achimgaz joint venture also contributed. Income from operations before special items rose significantly, with 120 million euros of special items relating to loss provisions for the Yme development project in Norway. Non-compensable income taxes on oil production reached 492 million euros. Net income was 250 million euros, down 9 percent. Full-year sales reached 16.7 billion euros, up 39 percent, while income from operations before special items came to 4.1 billion euros, nearly double the prior year. Net income also rose to 1.2 billion euros.
In addition, this technology also enjoys broad application and practice in related fields.
The BASF Group has produced dyes for more than a century, and both its output and its exports of dyes and pigments rank first in the world. Petrochemicals, as a key development direction and principal business area, occupy a very important position globally. The BASF Group is the fifth largest ethylene producer in Europe and ranks fourteenth worldwide. In April 1993 it completed a 600,000 tonne per year cracker in Antwerp, Belgium, together with a 250,000 tonne per year ethylene oxide unit and a 160,000 tonne per year acrylate unit. In March 1994 the BASF Group purchased two 150,000 tonne per year polypropylene units from ICI, becoming the second largest polypropylene producer in Europe and the fifth largest in the world.
The BASF Group is also the world's largest producer of acrylic acid, with capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year in Europe and North America, double that of second-placed Rohm and Haas. The BASF Group also holds an important position in world polystyrene production, ranking second in capacity globally.
In addition, this technology also enjoys broad application and practice in related fields.
Drawing on the group's technical strengths and strategic direction, in 1980 it developed animal disinfectants and mineral elements, committing itself to researching, developing, producing and selling animal health products and contributing to the nutrition and disinfection of livestock and poultry. These include polyvinylpyrrolidone raw material, iodic acid, magnesium, sulfur and potassium. It created the leading disinfectant brand Lectra-60 and the world's largest mineral production workshop, and achieved global sales of 1.28 billion euros in 2003. Its business extends across Europe, Asia, South America and North America. In 2008 it established an animal health business unit in China, which created another success for the company in the animal health industry.
Beyond this, practical engineering applications also require consideration of many other factors.
A distinctive feature of BASF Group research is that, alongside the formidable strength of the central research departments at the Ludwigshafen headquarters, the group has set up numerous local development departments around the world to conduct research locally. The central research facilities at Ludwigshafen comprise four long-established laboratories covering chemicals, plastics, pharmaceuticals and plant protection products, and dyes, auxiliaries and specialty chemicals. Several engineering development departments have also been established to support the research effort as a whole. Research departments around the world fall under the various business units and subsidiaries and mainly conduct research related to production and marketing. Process technologies in which the BASF Group leads the world in petrochemicals include the following:
This technology was first industrialised in 1968. To date, 28 units worldwide use it to produce butadiene, spread across more than ten countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, France, Italy, China, India, South Korea, Brazil, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Austria, with total capacity reaching 2.522 million tonnes per year. It is the most widely applied butadiene extraction technology in the world.
This technology was industrialised in 1977, and worldwide capacity of polypropylene units using it has reached 1.7 million tonnes per year, making it the second most widely applied polypropylene production technology after Himont's loop process.
Beyond this, practical engineering applications also require consideration of many other factors.
The Reppe process for making 1,4-butanediol from formaldehyde and acetylene was first industrialised by BASF, and in 1975 BASF improved it into the modified Reppe process, also known as the atmospheric-pressure Reppe process. This method uses a suspension bed flow scheme in which catalyst and product are separated inside the reactor, and it is one of the world's principal 1,4-butanediol production processes today.
Industrialised in 1976, this process uses ortho-xylene as feedstock together with a highly efficient vanadium-titanium surface-coated ring catalyst and a tubular fixed-bed reactor, and it is one of the world's principal phthalic anhydride production processes today. Worldwide, units using this method account for 32 percent of total global capacity.
This technology was industrialised in the early 1980s, and BASF used it to build a 100,000 tonne per year formic acid plant. The method first reacts CO with methanol to form methyl formate, and the methyl formate is then hydrolysed in the presence of an extractant to yield formic acid.
On this basis, industry experts have also carried out a great deal of research and improvement.
As early as 1952 BASF obtained patent rights to expandable polystyrene production technology. The group produces expandable polystyrene at eleven sites across four continents and has built a series of more than 30 different expandable polystyrene grades under the trade name Styropor, with output ranking first in Europe.
Through long practice in petrochemical production, BASF has gradually built up a range of hydrorefining and hydrotreating catalyst products characterised by olefin and aromatic hydrogenation, hydrodesulfurisation, hydrodenitrogenation, hydrodemetallisation, and hydrorefining of lubricating oil and wax, and it owns the preparation technology for them. These catalysts can be used to refine and treat a wide variety of feedstocks and are widely applied in petrochemicals.
BASF applied this technology it had developed to build a plant of tens of thousands of tonnes in Schwarzheide, Germany, in 1993; the product causes little pollution and can be used as an automotive polishing lacquer.
It is worth noting that the technology and standards in this field are also continuously developing and improving.
As early as 1982 BASF established BASF China Limited in Hong Kong, responsible for the sale, promotion and distribution of imported and locally produced products in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Carrying forward a century of BASF tradition, BASF China Limited provides customers with the expertise and services that improve quality and efficiency, thereby increasing their market competitiveness.
To strengthen its China operations, BASF set up the holding company BASF (China) Company Limited in 1996. Legally registered in Beijing, this new company provides logistics coordination, electronic data processing, procurement, human resources, finance and sales services for all of BASF's joint ventures in China.
BASF now employs more than 6,000 people in China and holds 23 wholly owned subsidiaries and 10 joint ventures, located in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Jilin, Shenyang and Hsinchu. To meet local market needs, the company maintains offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao and Taipei. In 2007, BASF's sales in Greater China amounted to approximately 4.4 billion euros. Its principal business areas in Greater China include petrochemicals, polymer dispersions, polystyrene, polyurethanes, engineering plastics, coatings, performance products for the textile and leather industries, intermediates, catalysts and chemical construction materials.
BASF has set ambitious plans for participating in China's economic development. Around 2,200 employees currently work on its China business, and sales in 1997 exceeded 1.1 billion marks. The sales target for 2000 was 2 billion marks, 30 percent of which would be produced in China. BASF continues to develop actively in the hope of becoming one of the leading chemical enterprises in the Chinese market.
The BASF Science and Technology Cooperation Department and the BASF-Jiao Tong University Management Development Centre, both established in Shanghai in 1997, amply demonstrate BASF's commitment to China.
BASF plays an important role in China's chemical market, participating in ten joint ventures whose full product ranges dovetail with the company's operations at its two major production sites in Shanghai and Nanjing. New plants built with the latest technology ensure that BASF and its Chinese partners hold a firm place in this rapidly developing market.
The brand ranked 286th in the 2006 World Brand 500 list compiled by the World Brand Lab, and the company ranked 62nd in the 2012 Fortune Global 500.
In addition, viewed from the perspective of industrial development, market demand is also driving technological progress.
The BASF Group establishes branch companies in the regions and countries that are its principal or priority growth markets, directing the development of local business directly. In 1996 the BASF Group set up a health and nutrition company headquartered in Denmark and BASF (China) Company Limited headquartered in Beijing.
At the same time, the supporting processes and equipment involved are also being continuously optimised and upgraded.
The BASF Group formed a joint venture with the American company Lynx, headquartered in Heidelberg, to conduct biotechnology and genetic engineering research. The BASF Group also planned to combine its polyethylene business with Shell's by forming a joint venture responsible for the European polyethylene business of Rhine Olefins, in which BASF and Shell each held 50 percent, and of the acquired Montell Polyolefins. The combination with Shell produced the joint venture Basell, which would build a new plant in Moerdijk, the Netherlands, to produce propylene oxide and polypropylene. Its European unsaturated olefins business was placed in a joint venture with the Dutch company DSM. The BASF Group also planned to form a joint venture with Hoechst to operate the polypropylene businesses of both companies together.
At the same time, the supporting processes and equipment involved are also being continuously optimised and upgraded.
BASF Applied Chemicals Co., Ltd. was founded in 1994 and has been a wholly owned BASF production enterprise since 2000. The company produces specialty chemicals such as leather and textile auxiliaries and dispersions. In June 2007, BASF established a new polyurethane specialty products production site in Pudong: BASF Polyurethane Specialties (China) Company Ltd., comprising a polyurethane system house, a technical research and development centre and a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) production unit.
At the same time, the supporting processes and equipment involved are also being continuously optimised and upgraded.
BACC was founded in 1994, originally as a joint venture between BASF and Shanghai Dyestuffs Company, and has been a wholly owned BASF production site since 2000, playing a very important role in BASF's Asia Pacific production network.
Beyond this, practical engineering applications also require consideration of many other factors.
In 2005 BASF acquired the global electronic chemicals business of the Merck Group (Merck KGaA). The former EMD Electronic Chemicals (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was renamed BASF Electronic Materials (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
At the same time, the supporting processes and equipment involved are also being continuously optimised and upgraded.
In December 2000, BASF and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) established a joint venture in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province: BASF-YPC Company Limited (BYC), created to build and operate an integrated petrochemical site. Total investment in the joint venture reached 2.9 billion US dollars, with BASF holding a 50 percent stake. At the heart of the integrated petrochemical site is a steam cracker supplying feedstock to nine world-scale downstream production units; it entered commercial operation in mid-2005, with a grand commercial operation ceremony held in September. The site produces 1.7 million tonnes of high-quality chemicals and polymers each year to meet domestic market needs, and the company employs approximately 1,500 people.
It is worth noting that the technology and standards in this field are also continuously developing and improving.
BASF Taiwan Sugar Agrochemical Co., Ltd. (BTCC) is a 55 (BASF) to 45 joint venture formed with Taiwan Sugar Corporation after the transaction was completed in December 2002. The production site has an annual capacity of 12,000 tonnes, is located in Hsinchu, and produces high-quality crop protection formulation products.
At the same time, the supporting processes and equipment involved are also being continuously optimised and upgraded.
Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Digital Officer: Dirk Elvermann, responsible for BASF Venture Capital, effective 1 January 2024 [19]
