With the Verbund site in Zhanjiang, BASF is strengthening its presence in the Chinese market. The site is a highly integrated, efficient and sustainable production facility that is powered entirely by renewable electricity. It offers a broad portfolio to key industrial sectors in China.

Factbook

Segments

The BASF Group consists of 11 operating divisions, which are grouped into six segments. The core businesses comprise the Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions and Nutrition & Care segments. They benefit from their deep integration in value chains and the Production Verbund. The standalone businesses are clustered in the Surface Technologies and Agricultural Solutions segments. These serve distinct industries and compete with peers who focus exclusively on individual industries.

    

BASF Group segments in 2025

Core businesses         Standalone businesses

Core businesses

Chemicals

The Chemicals segment is one of our core businesses and forms the heart of the Verbund with its production facilities. Its Petrochemicals and Intermediates divisions market high-quality basic chemicals and intermediates to customers in downstream industries. They also reliably supply BASF’s other segments with chemicals to produce higher value-added products and in this way, ensure the competitiveness of the BASF Group.

The segment strives for technological leadership and operational excellence and focuses on individual value chains. It concentrates on the essential success factors of the traditional chemicals business: leveraging economies of scale and the advantages of our Verbund, high asset reliability, continuous optimization of access to raw materials, lean and energy-efficient processes, and reliable, cost-effective logistics. This enables fundamental cost advantages and opens up various opportunities for decarbonization. The segment aims to create value through process and product innovation and invests in research and development to implement new, more sustainable technologies and make existing technologies more efficient. Thanks to our integrated production processes, the carbon footprint of a number of our products is significantly lower than that of our competitors. Furthermore, by using renewable, Segments recycled and low-emission feedstocks in our production network, we can provide products with diverse sustainability attributes. Examples of these offerings include our LowPCF, ZeroPCF and Ccycled® products.

The Petrochemicals and Intermediates operating divisions are continuously developing their value chains and are expanding their market position – especially in Asia – with investments and collaborations in growth markets. We want to participate in the growth of the largest chemicals market in the world and establish the Verbund site in Zhanjiang as a pioneer in sustainability in the manufacturing industry. We manufactured the first products from the Verbund there in November 2025, and commissioning of the steam cracker commenced at the end of December 2025. We are also continuously reviewing and improving our production structures in other regions and aligning them with regional market requirements. At the Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, for example, the production capacity of Neopor® is being expanded.

Chemicals

The Chemicals segment supplies both external customers and BASF’s other segments with basic chemicals and intermediates.

  • Share of sales: 16.9%
  • R&D expenses: €87 million
  • Investments including acquisitions1: €2,108 million

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1 Additions to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, excluding additions attributable to the discontinued coatings business


Standalone businesses

Surface Technologies

Some of our standalone businesses are bundled in the Surface Technologies segment, consisting of the Battery Materials and Environmental Catalyst and Metal Solutions divisions. Together with our customers, we develop novel products and technologies for emissions catalysts, coatings and battery materials. We also offer services in the areas of precious and base metals. We leverage our portfolio of technologies to find the best solution for our customers in terms of performance and cost and thus to generate growth. This helps our customers to drive forward innovation in their industries and contribute to more sustainable development.

Our key growth drivers are the increasing demand for chemicals in the automotive market, especially in Asia, and the shift toward more sustainable low-emission mobility. As one of the largest chemical suppliers to the automotive industry, the segment is developing customized, more sustainable solutions for battery and catalyst recycling in close cooperation with its customers. Our specialties and system solutions in these areas enable our customers to stand out from their competitors.

Until October 1, 2025, the Surface Technologies segment also included the Coatings division, which is no longer listed as part of the segment due to the following two transactions:

  • On October 10, 2025, BASF and Carlyle, Washington D.C., announced the signing of a binding transaction agreement relating to BASF’s automotive OEM coatings, automotive refinish coatings and surface treatment business units (“coatings”). Subject to approval from the relevant regulatory bodies, the transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. Owing to the planned divestiture, the affected business units are reported as discontinued operations in accordance with IFRS 5 as of September 30, 2025. From this date, the sales and earnings of the automotive OEM coatings, automotive refinish coatings and surface treatment business units are no longer part of the sales and EBIT(DA) before special items of the BASF Group and the Surface Technologies segment. Retroactively to January 1, 2025, and until the transaction closes, the income after taxes of these business units is presented in the income after taxes of BASF Group as a separate item (income after taxes from discontinued operations). The 2024 figures have been restated accordingly.
  • On October 1, 2025, the sale of BASF’s Brazilian decorative paints business to Sherwin-Williams, Cleveland, Ohio, was completed following approval by the relevant competition authority. The decorative paints business was not affected by the aforementioned retroactive restatement and was the only business reported under Coatings in 2025.

Surface Technologies

The Surface Technologies segment produces chemical solutions for surfaces in the area of battery materials and emissions catalysts.

  • Share of sales: 15.0%
  • R&D expenses: €155 million
  • Investments including acquisitions1: €116 million

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1 Additions to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, excluding additions attributable to the discontinued coatings business


Other
Activities that are not allocated to any of the divisions are recorded under Other. These include commodity trading, engineering and other services, as well as rental income and leases. Discontinued operations and certain activities remaining after divestitures are also reported here.
Last UpdateMay 28, 2026