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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition unveiled in July a strategy toward de-risking Germany's economic relationship with China, calling Beijing a "partner, competitor and systemic rival". German investment in Asia excluding China is rising as a share of overall investment. "No company is going to say that it will leave China," said Sandra Ebner, senior economist at Union Investment, Germany's second-largest fund manager. "But what companies are increasingly doing is to produce in China for China and to position themselves around China for the remaining Asian or global market." In July, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck travelled to India with a delegation of executives to discuss opportunities for German companies.

Persons: Thomas Nuernberger, Nuernberger, Olaf Scholz's, Volker Treier, Munk, Ferdinand Munk, Scholz, Angela Merkel's, Martin Brudermueller, Max Zenglein, Juergen Matthes, Markus Horn, Matthias Bianchi, Joe Biden, Wolfgang Niedermark, Jan Roennfeld, Roennfeld, Sandra Ebner, BDI's Niedermark, Robert Habeck, Christoph Steitz, Sarah Marsh, Maria Martinez, Aditya Kalra, Sarita Chaganti Singh, Xinghui, Orathai, Brenda Goh Organizations: Reuters, Commerce and Industry, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Benz, BASF, IW Institute, Big, Mercator Institute for China Studies, Economic Institute, Horn, German Association of, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, Union Investment, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, BERLIN, Berlin, Beijing, China, Taiwan, India, Asia, Germany, Europe, Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia, South China, European, Thailand, United States, Mexico, Indonesian, Eastern Germany, Malaysia, Frankfurt, New Delhi, Xinghui Kok, Singapore, Bangkok, Shanghai

☆ BASF maintains 2023 forecast, faces subdued demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 27 (Reuters) - German chemicals giant BASF (BASFn.DE) on Thursday maintained its profit forecast for 2023 but warned of great uncertainty in the global economy as it saw demand weaken across its segments. BASF is targeting sales this year in a range of 84-87 billion euros ($92.84-$96.15 billion) and adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 4.8-5.4 billion euros, the company said upon confirming its preliminary results for the first quarter. "BASF started off 2023 better than analysts had expected – and in a stagnating and difficult economic environment," said chief executive Martin Brudermueller. Earlier this month, the company reported higher-than-forecast first-quarter adjusted EBIT of 1.93 billion euros, falling by almost a third compared to the same quarter of 2022. However, first-quarter sales fell by 13% to 20 billion euros as a result of lower volumes across almost all segments.

☆ BASF to cut 2,600 jobs on high costs in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A view of a chemical plant of German company BASF, in Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, on October 06, 2022 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF said it would cut 2,600 jobs and halt its share buybacks as it warned of a further decline in earnings reflecting high costs in Europe, uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine and rising interest rates. BASF, which in October laid out plans to cut annual costs in Europe by 500 million euros, said on Friday that this would translate into about 2,600 job cuts, about 65% of which would be in Germany and laid out plans to cut another 200 million euros in annual costs. A share buyback programme, with 3 billion euros earmarked early last year, will be stopped early after 1.4 billion euros spent on own shares due to "profound changes in the global economy", it added. Among the cutbacks in Ludwigshafen, BASF will stop production of caprolactam used in engineering plastics and textile fibres, using instead a production line in Belgium.

☆ BASF flags earnings decline, job cuts on high costs in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The German chemicals giant said in a statement on Friday that 2023 earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), adjusted for special items, would fall to between 4.8 billion euros ($5.09 billion) and 5.4 billion from 6.9 billion in 2022, which was down 11.5% from 2021. BASF, which in October laid out plans to cut annual costs in Europe by 500 million euros, said on Friday that this would translate into about 2,600 job cuts, about 65% of which would be in Germany and laid out plans to cut another 200 million euros in annual costs. A share buyback programme, with 3 billion euros earmarked early last year, will be stopped early after 1.4 billion euros spent on own shares due to "profound changes in the global economy", it added. On Friday, it revised the net loss downwards to 627 million euros. Among the cutbacks in Ludwigshafen, BASF will stop production of caprolactam used in engineering plastics and textile fibres, using instead a production line in Belgium.

☆ BASF says its battery material plant will be running by year-end
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Under a push to build a global materials network serving the EV industry, BASF has been seeking a string of alliances with cobalt and nickel miners. That included a 2018 partnership with Russia's Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM) in Harjavalta, Finland, which will supply metals to the Schwarzheide site. "We will ramp up the first facility here towards the end of the year," Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller told reporters after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the production site on Tuesday. The battery materials business is one of two major investment projects at BASF. The group, which plans to cut jobs at its headquarters in Germany, will compete in battery recycling mainly with Belgium's Umicore (UMI.BR).

☆ BASF says European operations need to be cut to size 'permanently'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Oct 26 (Reuters) - BASF (BASFn.DE) said costs at sites in its European home market need to be brought to a "permanently" lower level because of a triple burden of sluggish growth, high energy costs and over-regulation. In the first nine months of 2022, natural gas costs at BASF's European sites were about 2.2 billion euros ($2.19 billion) higher than in the year-earlier period, the company added. The move defies heightened concerns in the German government over economic dependence on China as a trade partner that it sees as under increasingly authoritarian rule. BASF has warned that Europe's planned shift to shipped liquefied natural gas (LNG), away from Russian pipeline gas, would put sites in the region at a structural disadvantage to overseas rivals with cheaper energy supplies. Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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