Sales and Earnings Forecast for the Segments

In the Chemicals segment, we expect sales to reach the prior-year level in 2019. We anticipate higher volumes, especially of styrenes, plasticizers and oxo alcohols in the Petrochemicals division, and of amines and polyalcohols in the Intermediates division. By contrast, we expect lower volumes of steam cracker products due to scheduled shutdowns of the steam crackers in Port Arthur, Texas; Antwerp, Belgium; and Ludwigshafen, Germany. EBIT before special items will presumably be slightly above the 2018 level: In particular, we are forecasting improved margins in the butanediol value chain in the Intermediates division, as well as for acrylic acid and its derivatives in the Petrochemicals division.

We expect sales in the Materials segment to be slightly above the prior-year level in 2019. In the Performance Materials division, we anticipate stronger volumes and higher prices on average. This should more than offset the significantly lower prices in the isocyanates business in the Monomers division as a result of additional capacities from competitors, especially in the Middle East and Asia. In addition, the acquisition of Solvay’s integrated polyamide business is expected to deliver a positive contribution in the second half of 2019. We anticipate considerably lower EBIT before special items compared with 2018, driven mainly by the expected decline in margins in the isocyanates business.

Sales in the Industrial Solutions segment will likely decrease slightly in 2019. We expect a considerable decline in sales in the Performance Chemicals division due to the transfer of BASF’s paper and water chemicals business to the Solenis group as of January 31, 2019. The higher volumes and prices forecast in the Performance Chemicals division’s remaining businesses as well as in the Dispersions & Pigments division and will not be able to completely compensate for this. Despite the continued challenging market environment, we anticipate a considerable increase in EBIT before special items for the segment, mainly from higher volumes and stronger margins.

In the Surface Technologies segment, sales should rise slightly as a result of volumes growth and higher prices. Despite the challenging market situation, especially in the automotive industry, we expect sales to increase in all divisions. We aim to considerably increase EBIT before special items, primarily with improved margins and strict cost discipline.

For the Nutrition & Care segment, we anticipate considerably higher sales than in 2018, largely from volumes growth in both divisions. In the Nutrition & Health division in particular, our planning assumes improved product availability following the restart of the citral plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and the ibuprofen plant in Bishop, Texas, as well as the startup of the menthol plant in Kuantan, Malaysia. We also expect EBIT before special items to considerably exceed the prior-year figure, mainly from higher sales volumes. Softer margins for vitamins and the absence of insurance refunds compared with the previous year will have an offsetting effect.

Despite the continuing challenging market environment, we anticipate considerable sales growth in the Agricultural Solutions segment due in particular to the businesses acquired from Bayer and higher volumes. We also expect a considerable increase in EBIT before special items overall. In 2019, we will launch a program to boost efficiency to offset factors such as the rise in fixed costs. We will also continue to invest at a high level in research and development and digitalization.

Sales in Other are expected to increase considerably in 2019, mainly as a result of higher volumes in raw materials trading. For EBIT before special items, we are forecasting a figure considerably below the previous year due to the positive measurement effects for our long-term incentive program that arose in 2018, which we do not expect in 2019.