Half-Year Financial Report

2022

Innovative process catalysts

Catalysts are indispensable to many processes and production methods in the chemical industry: They accelerate processes, enable higher production volumes from the same amount of feedstock and reduce energy demand. That is why BASF conducts intensive research in this area and develops innovative solutions for customers in various industries. At a research center at the Ludwigshafen site in Germany, for example, BASF operates highly automated experimental facilities to develop efficient processes and test new process catalysts. The photo shows chemical laboratory technician Melanie Zier monitoring a plant during testing.

In a nutshell

Q2 2022 at a Glance

lp-ceo

Martin Brudermüller

Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors

“Despite the continued high raw materials and energy prices, we again achieved strong earnings in the second quarter.”

Read more

23.0

billion

Sales

2.3

billion

EBIT before special items

Adjusted outlook for the 2022 business year (previous forecast from the BASF Report 2021 in parentheses):

  • Sales: €86 billion to €89 billion (€74 billion to €77 billion)
  • EBIT before special items: €6.8 billion to €7.2 billion (€6.6 billion to €7.2 billion)
  • Return on capital employed (ROCE): 10.5% to 11.0% (11.4% to 12.6%)
  • CO2 emissions: 18.4 million metric tons to 19.4 million metric tons (19.6 million metric tons to 20.6 million metric tons)

News from Q2

Heat pump

BASF and MAN Energy Solutions enter into partnership for construction of one of the world’s largest heat pumps in Ludwigshafen

BASF and MAN Energy Solutions have entered into a strategic partnership to pursue the construction of an industrial-scale heat pump at the BASF site in Ludwigshafen. This project is intended to make an important contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, establishing the use of low-CO2 technologies in chemical production and reducing the site’s natural gas consumption. As a first step, the project partners are conducting a feasibility study that is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

Read more
Black mass processing plant

BASF to build commercial scale battery recycling black mass plant in Schwarzheide, Germany

BASF will build a commercial scale battery recycling black mass plant in Schwarzheide, Germany. This investment strengthens BASF’s cathode active materials (CAM) production and recycling hub in Schwarzheide. This investment will create about 30 new production jobs, with startup planned for early 2024.

Read more
Shuizuishan production

BASF expands production capacity in China for industry-leading cathode active materials

BASF Shanshan Battery Materials Co., Ltd. (BSBM), a BASF majority-owned company in China (BASF 51%; Shanshan 49%), is expanding its battery materials capacity in Changsha, Hunan Province, and Shuizuishan, Ningxia Province. The aim is to meet the fast-growing local and global demands of the electric vehicle (EV) industry. The expansion project will enable BSBM to achieve 100 kt annual capacity for cathode active materials (CAM).

Read more
Factory

BASF offers range of chemical intermediates with product carbon footprint significantly below global market average

BASF has calculated the individual product carbon footprints (PCF) of a large part of its portfolio of chemical intermediates. The results were compared with assessments of market-wide average carbon footprints of the corresponding products of third parties. The outcome of the analysis shows that due to the production set-up the PCF of a range of BASF’s chemical intermediates is significantly below the global average PCF of the corresponding third-party chemicals, all produced from fossil-based raw materials.

Read more
Automotive coating

BASF and BMW Group rely on renewable raw materials for automotive coatings

The BMW Group is the first carmaker to place its trust in more sustainable automotive OEM coatings certified according to BASF’s biomass balance approach. The BMW Group has chosen to use BASF Coatings’ CathoGuard® 800 ReSource e-coat at its plants in Leipzig, Germany, and Rosslyn, South Africa, and the iGloss® matt ReSource clearcoat throughout Europe. Using these more sustainable product versions for vehicle coatings enables CO2 avoidance of around 40% per coating layer; this will reduce the amount of CO2 emitted in the plants by more than 15,000 metric tons by 2030.

Read more
Supervisory Board of BASF SE

New composition of Supervisory Board of BASF SE

The ordinary Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of BASF SE has elected Alessandra Genco (48), Chief Financial Officer of Leonardo SpA, Rome, Italy, and Professor Dr. Stefan Asenkerschbaumer (66), chairman of the supervisory board of Robert Bosch GmbH and managing partner of Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, Stuttgart, Germany, to the Supervisory Board of BASF SE as new shareholder representatives.

Read more
BASF Flags

BASF to wind down activities in Russia and Belarus except for business that supports food production

BASF strongly condemns the Russian attack on Ukraine and the violence against the civilian population. The Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE has decided to wind down the company’s remaining business activities in Russia and Belarus by the beginning of July 2022. Exempt from this decision is business to support food production, as the war risks triggering a global food crisis.

Read more
Woman and Man in agricultural field

Strong pipeline of BASF agricultural innovations will benefit food security, climate and environment

BASF has announced its ten-year outlook on agricultural innovations that support food security for future generations, while minimizing the impact of farming on the climate and the environment. The company focuses on improving agricultural outcomes in major crops, like wheat, canola, soybean, corn, cotton, rice, as well as fruits and vegetables. These crops account for more than 50% of the world’s farmland, which is why innovations applied on such a large scale have the potential to make farming even more productive and sustainable.

Read more
Production line

BASF and Henkel focus on renewable raw materials in Henkel’s consumer goods products

BASF and Henkel jointly commit to replacing fossil carbon feedstock with renewable feedstock for most products in Henkel’s European Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care businesses over the next four years. Through the cooperation, the fossil feedstock for around 110,000 tons of ingredients per year will be substituted with renewable feedstock using BASF’s certified biomass balance approach. As a result, Henkel’s core brands like Persil, Pril, Fa and Schauma will come with a reduced carbon footprint, avoiding around 200,000 tons of CO2 emissions in total.

Read more