By Paul Homewood
.
BASF, the world’s biggest chemicals company, says high energy costs make Europe increasingly uncompetitive
BASF has said it will have to downsize “permanently” in Europe, with high energy costs making the region increasingly uncompetitive.
The statement from the world’s largest chemicals group by revenue came after it opened the first part of its new €10bn plastics engineering facility in China a month ago, which it said would support growing demand in the country.
“The European chemical market has been growing only weakly for about a decade [and] the significant increase in natural gas and power prices over the course of this year is putting pressure on chemical value chains,” chief executive Martin Brudermüller said on Wednesday.
BASF, which produces products from basic petrochemicals to fertilisers and glues, spent €2.2bn more on natural gas at its European sites in the first nine months of 2022, compared with…
View original post 271 more words
Climate Collections 