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

By Patricia Weiss

FRANKFURT, ‌June 9 (Reuters) - ​BASF ​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 with 464 ⁠billion yuan ($68.5 billion) in operating revenues

• Also among the largest global ​players in the chemical industry, U.S. rival Dow had $40 billion in 2025 sales, while PetroChina's 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"

(Reporting by Patricia Weiss, Writing by Ludwig Burger, Editing by Linda ‌Pasquini)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• India's Tech Mahindra gains after revenue beat 
• Australia summons Laos ambassador, calls for serious charges in backpacker methanol deaths
• South Korea-US team unveils robotic technology that dresses the wearer