BASF

BASF SE (FWB: BAS, LSE: BFA) is a German chemical company and the largest chemical company in the world. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik (Baden Aniline and Soda Factory).

The BASF Group comprises more than 160 subsidiaries and joint ventures and operates more than 150 production sites in Europe, Asia, Australia, Americas and Africa. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany). BASF has customers in over 200 countries and supplies products to a wide variety of industries. Despite its size and global presence BASF receives little public attention as it has abandoned consumer product lines in the 90s.

At the end of 2006, the company employed more than 95,000 people, with over 47,000 in Germany alone. In 2006, BASF posted sales of €52.6 billion and income from operations before special items of over €6.7 billion. The company is currently expanding its international activities with a particular focus on Asia. Between 1990 and 2005, the company invested €5.6 billion in Asia, for example in sites near Nanjing and Shanghai, China and Katipalla in India. The company recently completed a takeover of Ciba Specialty Chemicals (formerly part of Ciba-Geigy).