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Alsharq Tribune-Otaify
The German chemical giant BASF on Friday reported drops in both sales and profit for the 2025 business year, but voiced confidence in its new project in China, eyeing success in the medium term despite the headwinds.
According to the company's financial report, its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) plunged by 9.68 percent to 5.6 billion euros (6.6 billion U.S. dollars) year on year, and sales declined by 2.77 percent to 59.7 billion euros (70.6 billion dollars).
The decrease in earnings was largely attributed to "a significant decline in earnings in the core businesses." Moreover, the year 2025 and particularly the fourth quarter did not develop as anticipated for the group.
Commenting on some of the "significant milestones" in its strategy implementation, BASF CEO Markus Kamieth spoke of the successful startup of the major plants at its new Verbund site in Zhanjiang, south China's Guangdong province.
Kamieth told Xinhua that BASF is optimistic that its Zhanjiang project will turn into a success in the medium term. He described the Zhanjiang project as "unprecedented," saying that "just the technical ramp-up alone is something you've probably never seen before in the chemical industry, with this level of quality and performance."
According to BASF, the project will be its largest investment to date, with around 10 billion euros (11.85 billion dollars) upon completion. It will be the company's third-largest Verbund site worldwide, following Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.
"We still believe that in the medium term, this will be a very successful BASF location because it's strategically located in the right place, and we are incredibly competitive there," Kamieth said.
