8 – Other operating expenses

Expenses for restructuring measures were primarily related to severance payments amounting to €190 million in 2016 and €69 million in 2015. Further expenses for restructuring measures arose in the Petrochemicals division at several sites in the United States; these amounted to €37 million in 2016 and €15 million in 2015. In the Dispersions & Pigments division, expenses of €25 million in 2016 and €16 million in 2015 concerned several sites worldwide. In addition, expenses of €39 million in 2016 and €15 million in 2015 were incurred for the outsourcing of the computer centers as well as for a regional restructuring project in South America.

Expenses arose from environmental protection and safety measures, demolition and removal, and planning expenses related to capital expenditures insofar as these are not subject to mandatory capitalization according to IFRS. Expenses for demolition, removal and project planning totaled €375 million in 2016 and €376 million in 2015. These especially pertained to the Ludwigshafen site in both years. Further expenses of €61 million in 2016 and €37 million in 2015 arose from the addition to environmental provisions. In both years, these concerned several discontinued sites in North America. In 2016, expenses were also incurred for landfills in Germany. Moreover, the previous year had contained expenses for several discontinued sites in Switzerland.

Amortization, depreciation and impairments of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment arose from impairments in the Functional Materials & Solutions segment in the amount of €124 million in 2016 compared with €57 million in 2015. The Chemicals segment posted impairments of €67 million in 2016 and €18 million in 2015. Further impairments of €24 million concerned the Agricultural Solutions segment in 2016. The previous year had recorded €500 million in impairments in the Oil & Gas segment and €53 million in the Performance Products segment.

Costs from miscellaneous revenue-generating activities concerned the respective item presented in other operating income.

Expenses from foreign-currency and hedging transactions as well as from the measurement of LTI options were related to foreign currency translations of receivables and payables as well as changes in the fair value of currency derivatives and other hedging transactions. Compared with the previous year, lower expenses were particularly the result of the appreciation of the U.S. dollar against various currencies. Countering this was an additional expense in 2016 for the long-term incentive (LTI) program of €267 million (2015: €53 million).

Losses from the disposal of fixed assets and divestitures amounted to €17 million in 2016 from the reduction in disposal gains from the asset swap with Gazprom as part of the final purchase price allocation. In 2015, losses mainly stemmed from the sale of the global paper hydrous kaolin business to Imerys Kaolin, Inc., Roswell, Georgia.

Expenses from the addition of valuation allowances for business-related receivables rose by €25 million compared with the previous year. This was predominantly due to higher additions in the region South America, Africa, Middle East as compared with the prior year.

In both years, expenses under Other included expenses from attorneys’ fees for litigation cases as well as from REACH, the provision of services, and conducting additional projects. Moreover, 2016 contained expenses of €27 million from the fire damage at the Ludwigshafen North Harbor. In addition to expenses for onerous contracts at several companies, 2015 also contained expenses of €121 million for BASF’s 150th anniversary.