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Ludwigshafen – July 8, 2019 – Significantly weaker-than-expected industrial production negatively impacted volumes and margin development at BASF. At around 1.5% according to current estimates, growth in industrial production in the first half of 2019 was much slower than expected. The downturn in growth in the global automotive industry was particularly strong: Globally, production declined by around 6% in the first half of 2019. In China, the world’s largest automotive market, the decrease was more than twice as high, at around 13%.

With an organizational realignment, BASF is creating the conditions for greater customer proximity, increased competitiveness and more profitable growth. BASF is streamlining its administration, sharpening the roles of services and regions and simplifying procedures and processes. As a result, the company expects savings of €300 million, as part of the ongoing excellence program, which is anticipated to contribute €2 billion to earnings annually from the end of 2021 onwards.