MOSCOW (MRC) -- The world’s largest chemical producer BASF reported a better-than-expected second-quarter net profit as it managed to increase volumes and prices thanks to strong demand, said the company.
Low commodity prices during the coronavirus pandemic weighed on BASF’s earnings last year, but the German group recorded a rapid recovery so far in 2021 as the global economy picked up faster than expected.
“We achieved volumes growth and price increases across all regions and all segments compared with the second quarter of 2020,” BASF’s Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller said in a statement.
The Germany-based giant reported a second-quarter net income of 1.7 billion euros (USD2.01 billion) compared to the 1.4 billion euros expected on average by analysts in a company-provided poll.
The diversified group said price and volumes increased especially in its surface technologies, chemicals, materials and industrial solutions segments.
The company confirmed the preliminary figures for second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and sales as well as the 2021 guidance it announced on July 9.
As per MRC, BASF, the world leader in the production of chemical products in the world, keeps the capacity utilization at its expandable polystyrene plant (EPS) at its complex in Ludwigshafen (Ludwigshafen, Germany) at a reduced level in July due to technical problems. Thus, a technical malfunction at the reactor of one of the lines of this enterprise with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year, discovered on 11 July, led to a reduction in the production of Styropor F95, Peripor and F15 grades.
According to MRC's ScanPlast, EPS consumption in Russia amounted to 40,690 tonnes in the first five months of this year, an 18% increase over the same period last year. In May, the consumption of EPS in the country increased by 35% compared to the same month a year earlier and amounted to 8,790 tonnes.
BASF SE (headquartered in Ludwigshafen) - the world's largest manufacturer of chemical products for the industry, including the extraction and processing of oil and gas; has more than 150 production sites in the world, including a number of production lines in the Russian Federation.
MRC