Sites, Markets, Environment

BASF has companies in around 90 countries. We operate six Verbund sites and 241 additional production sites worldwide. Our Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, is the world’s largest chemical complex owned by a single company that was developed as an integrated network. This was where the Verbund principle was originally established and continuously optimized. We then implemented it at additional sites. In 2020, we started construction of the first plants at the planned integrated Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China.

The Verbund system is one of BASF’s great strengths. We add value by using our resources efficiently. The Production Verbund intelligently links production units and their energy supply so that, for example, the waste heat of one plant provides energy to others. Furthermore, one facility’s by-products can serve as feedstocks elsewhere. This not only saves us raw materials and energy, it also avoids emissions, lowers logistics costs and leverages synergies.

We also make use of the Verbund principle for more than production, applying it for technologies, the market and digitalization as well. Expert knowledge is pooled in our global research divisions.

BASF sites

BASF sales by region 2020

Location of customer

Procurement and sales markets

• Around 90,000 customers; broad customer portfolio
• More than 70,000 suppliers

BASF supplies products and services to around 90,000 customers¹ from various sectors in almost every country in the world. Our customer portfolio ranges from major global customers and small and medium-sized enterprises to end consumers.

We work with over 70,000 Tier 1 suppliers² from different sectors worldwide. They supply us with important raw materials, chemicals, investment goods and consumables, and perform a range of services. Important raw materials (based on volume) include naphtha, liquid gas, natural gas, benzene and caustic soda.

Business and competitive environment

BASF’s global presence means that it operates in the context of local, regional and global developments and a wide range of conditions. These include:

• Global economic environment
• Legal and political requirements (such as European Union regulations)
• International trade agreements
• Industry standards
• Environmental agreements (such as the E.U. Emissions Trading System)
• Social aspects (such as the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

BASF holds one of the top three market positions in around 70% of the business areas in which it is active. Our most important global competitors include Arkema, Bayer, Clariant, Corteva, Covestro, Dow, Dupont, DSM, Evonik, Huntsman, Lanxess, SABIC, Sinopec, Solvay, Sumitomo Chemical, Syngenta, Wanhua and many hundreds of local and regional competitors. We expect competitors from Asia and the Middle East in particular to gain increasing significance in the years ahead.

Corporate legal structure

As the publicly traded parent company of the BASF Group, BASF SE takes a central position: Directly or indirectly, it holds the shares in the companies belonging to the BASF Group, and is also one of the largest operating companies. The majority of Group companies cover a broad spectrum of our business. In the BASF Group Consolidated Financial Statements, 273 companies including BASF SE are fully consolidated. We consolidate nine joint operations on a proportional basis, and account for 25 companies using the equity method.