The largest chemical company in Europe is planning to save a whopping one billion euros in Ludwigshafen by the end of the year 2026. This ambitious plan is in addition to the ongoing savings that the company is already working on. The company, however, anticipates that this cost-saving measure will unfortunately result in job losses. The exact number of jobs that will be affected by this decision has not been specified by the company in its explanation of the annual figures.
Further, the chemical giant announced a separate savings plan for the year 2022, a decision which has been influenced by the skyrocketing gas prices in Europe and a decline in the company’s financial results. The objective of this plan is to save an additional 1.1 billion euros by the end of 2026. Hence, new measures and strategies will be implemented to achieve these targets.
The company is grappling with a decrease in demand for chemicals, particularly in Europe, and the persistently high energy costs are adding to the challenges faced by the group. The company’s projections for the global economy are not very optimistic either; they expect that the global economy will remain weak in 2024 and will only start showing signs of recovery during the later part of the year.
Previously, the chemical company reported that the profits before interest, taxes, and depreciation fell significantly by almost 29 percent last year, bringing the figure down to 7.7 billion euros. However, the company is hopeful about the future and expects to see an increase in profits this year to 8.6 billion euros.
In addition to its operations in Ludwigshafen, BASF also has a large production facility in Antwerp.
