BASF to focus on creating value as No. 1 rank slips

Dow, Inc.

Dow, Inc.

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By Patricia Weiss

FRANKFURT, June 9 (Reuters) - BASF BASFn.DE will not push to defend its years-long top rank among the world's largest chemical companies by revenues to instead focus on creating value amid unprecedented upheavals and shifts in the industry, the German group's CEO said.

  • "Size in itself is not a goal for us," CEO Markus Kamieth told journalists late on Monday

  • "We may no longer be the biggest in the world – others will overtake us in terms of sheer size – but we will remain one of the most valuable companies in our industry," said the CEO

  • Kamieth said the business environment was at its most difficult in at least the last 25 years, with the global balance of industrial power shifting

  • Last year, BASF's group revenues of €59.7 billion ($68.9 billion) were broadly neck and neck with the chemicals segment of China's Sinopec 600028.SS with 464 billion yuan ($68.5 billion) in operating revenues

  • Also among the largest global players in the chemical industry, U.S. rival Dow DOW.N had $40 billion in 2025 sales, while PetroChina's 601857.SS refining, chemicals and new materials division reported combined sales of 1,078 billion yuan ($159.18 billion)

  • Kamieth highlighted BASF's struggle to slash greenhouse gas emissions in Europe: "The green transition is technically feasible. But making it economically viable is an incredibly challenging task"


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