9 – Minority interests

As in the first quarter, improved earnings at WINGAS GmbH, in Kassel, Germany, resulting from higher sales volumes and more favorable procurement conditions led to an increase in minority interests in profits in the second quarter of 2015 compared with the same period of the previous year. BASF Total Petrochemicals LLC, in Port Arthur, Texas, also contributed to higher minority interests in profits in both periods.

Minority interests in losses arose in both the second quarter and the first half of 2015, primarily at Shanghai BASF Polyurethane Company Ltd. in Shanghai, China. In the same periods of the previous year, the weather-related sales decline at companies active in natural gas trading had led to minority interests in losses.