BASF’s financial strength supports proposed stable dividend share for the 2023 business year

In a market environment shaped by economic uncertainty, BASF Group reported sales of €68.9 billion in the 2023 business year, compared with €87.3 billion in the previous year, said the company.

This sales development was mainly driven by considerably lower prices and volumes. Lower raw materials prices in particular led to lower prices in almost all segments. Sales volumes fell in all segments as a result of weak demand from many customer industries. Nevertheless, BASF demonstrated economic strength with cash flows from operating activities rising 5.2 percent year on year to reach €8.1 billion. The company had already released preliminary figures for the full year 2023 on January 19, 2024.

Today, Dr. Martin Brudermuller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF, and Dr. Dirk Elvermann, Chief Financial Officer, presented the 2023 business development in detail and announced a further program for the Ludwigshafen site with additional annual cost savings of €1 billion by the end of 2026. This is in addition to the existing cost savings program in non-production units with a focus on Europe and the adaptation of production structures in Ludwigshafen.

We remind, BASF is utilizing its extensive global expertise in chemical recycling, employing pyrolysis technology known as ChemCycling, to introduce International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus certified "Ccycled" materials sourced from the BASF TotalEnergies Petrochemicals facility located in Port Arthur, Texas, said the company. This facility operates as a joint venture between BASF and TotalEnergies, with a ownership split of 60/40 respectively, with TotalEnergies headquartered in France.

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Vitol Bunkers has taken delivery of the marine future, its first specialized bunker barge in Singapore, strengthening its position in Asia’s expanding biofuel bunker market, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The addition of this specialized IMO type 2 notation bunker tanker to the V-Bunkers fleet will uniquely make it possible to supply biofuel blends including B24, B30 and up to B100, depending on customer specifications.

Built in China, Marine Future is 102.6 m in length and has the capacity to carry about 7,000 MMt of biofuels.

The current fleet of bunker tankers in Singapore are classified as oil tankers and are therefore restricted to a maximum of 25% bio component in biofuel blends. This new bunker tanker has no such restriction, hence can deliver bunker fuels consisting of 100% bio component (B100).

Biofuels are a key pathway for the hard-to-abate shipping sector to mitigate emissions. Biofuel sales in Singapore reached 520,000 tons in 2023 according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), representing a material increase on the prior year where volumes were 140,000 tons.

“We are delighted to now be able to offer our maritime customers the option to take up to 100% bio component bunker fuel here in Singapore and play our part in advancing the port’s decarbonization efforts. Should there be demand, this vessel can also be re-configured in future to supply methanol,” said Mike Muller, head of Vitol Asia.

We remind, Trading house Vitol has bought the first naphtha cargo produced for export by Nigeria's new 650,000-bpd Dangote oil refinery. Dangote issued a tender to sell the 60,000 metric ton cargo earlier this month for Feb. 23-29 loading. Vitol declined to comment.

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On Friday, Iraq reopened its North Refinery in Baiji that was shut for a decade during the violence and chaos that followed the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, which made it nearly impossible to run one of the country's most vital energy complexes, said Reuters.

The fall of Saddam Hussein was meant to bring stability and prosperity to major OPEC oil producer Iraq after years of economic mismanagement and military misadventures brought the country to its knees.

Instead, Iraqis suffered from an insurgency, a sectarian civil war and then the advent of Al Qaeda and later Islamic state that killed tens of thousands of people. The Baiji refinery complex was a high-profile victim of the chaos, a focal point for fighting between security forces and militants for months on end.

Al Qaeda had enough control over the Baiji area that it was able to intimidate refinery workers and hijack its refined products. It sold the products to neighboring countries and used the profits to finance its insurgency. The refinery was shut in 2014 when Islamic State fighters seized it after taking over one third of the country's territory. Islamic State stole oil and petroleum products from areas it controlled in an effort to create a self-sustaining Islamic empire.

It has a refining capacity of 150,000 bpd after reopening, which would bring the total capacity of the Baiji refining complex to 290,000 bpd. Iraq aims to reach self-sufficiency in oil derivatives by mid-next year, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in the reopening ceremony.

We remind, Oil major Shell has withdrawn from talks on building a petrochemicals plant in the southern oil hub of Basra. Shell in a separate statement confirmed it was leaving the project. A statement from Iraq's oil ministry said Shell would not continue discussions with the Ministry of Industry and Minerals and the Ministry of Oil regarding its role as "a major investor" in the Nebras Petrochemical Project, although it affirmed its continued support for the project through its partnership with Basra Gas Company.

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INEOS Automotive and BASF’s Coatings division have signed an agreement on a global automotive refinish body and paint development, said the company.

The partners will commit to a long-term strategic collaboration that enables them to exceed the industry standard in vehicle body repair and paint refinish. The partnership includes the supply of sustainable refinish solutions, expertise and latest digital color-matching solutions and training.

“We are very happy to partner with BASF to develop a world-class sustainable paint program in the next few years which follows the highest quality standards in paint-work repairs for premium vehicles,” said Steve Graham, Global Head of Aftersales, INEOS Automotive. “With BASF’s technical support and management experience in the latest body shop standards, the INEOS Automotive network can now rely on a partner that shares our commitment to excellence in customer service.”

BASF will ensure that the most sustainable and efficient refinish practices are maintained at the highest level to the INEOS body shop network in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific.

We remind, BASF Group reported sales of €68.9 billion in the 2023 business year, compared with €87.3 billion in the previous year. This sales development was mainly driven by considerably lower prices and volumes.

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TotalEnergies' 238,000-bpd refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, is operating at minimal production as it contends with multiple upsets on Wednesday, people familiar with plant operations said Reuters.

The refinery has been struggling to complete a restart following a Jan. 16 plant-wide power outage after temperatures fell below 20°F (–6°C).

On Wednesday, the company reported multiple upsets in heaters for the refinery's 150,000-bpd ACU-1 and 40,000-bpd ACU-2 crude distillation units (CDUs) along with the 51,000-bpd and 60,000-bpd vacuum distillation units (VDUs), as well as the 60,000-bpd DCU-2 coker, were affected by the Wednesday malfunction, according to the TCEQ filing.

CDUs break down crude oil into feedstocks for all other units, while VDUs further refine gunky residual crude oil from CDUs into feedstocks for other units. The coker finishes the refining of crude oil by converting residual crude from the VDU into motor fuel feedstocks or petroleum coke.

The refinery's 76,000-bpd fluidic catalytic cracker-2 was also in operation, according to the sources.

We remind, TotalEnergies and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) have signed a cooperation agreement to carry out methane emissions detection and measurement campaigns using TotalEnergies' pioneer AUSEA (Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications) technology.

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