Profit boost for BASF

The company reported a 10% year-on-year sales growth to €32bn for the first half of the year.

Chairman of the BASF SE board of executives Dr Jürgen Hambrecht said demand for products “remains strong”, but added that some sales prices have had to be increased so as to pass on “significantly higher raw material costs”.

The chemical division experienced a 15% sales growth to €5bn year-on-year, which has been attributed to the passing on of higher raw material costs.

Earnings for the plastic sector, for instance, decreased by 14% to €291m in the second quarter, on the same period in 2007, due to weakness in the North American market.

However, the company highlighted that global demand for eco-efficient polymers is growing by 20% per year and said that it will increase production capacities for these at its Ludwigshafen site.

Ecoflex capacity will increase from 14,000 to 74,000 metric tons per year, while production of Eco-flex derivative Ecovio will also rise.

BASF has identified five growth areas for the company: energy management, nanotechnology, white (industrial) biotechnology, plant biotechnology and raw material change.

The company predicts that starting from 2015 innovations based on these areas will cultivate sales of between €2-€4bn.

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