Chemicals
The Chemicals segment consists of the Petrochemicals and Intermediates divisions. It supplies the other segments with basic chemicals and intermediates, contributing to the organic growth of our key value chains as well as to our direct customer business. Alongside internal transfers, our customers mainly come from the chemical and plastics industries. We aim to further expand our competitiveness through technological leadership and operational excellence.
Divisions
CO2 reduction in the cement industry
With over 50 years of expertise in gas treatment, BASF is opening up new markets and making important contributions to reducing CO2 emissions. For example, a cement production facility at Heidelberg Materials will be the first to use a large-scale CO2 capture plant in which a process based on OASE® blue, jointly developed by BASF, Linde and Heidelberg Materials, will be used. From 2025, around 70,000 metric tons of CO2 per year will be captured, purified and liquefied in this first plant of its kind for capturing and recycling CO2 in cement production at the Lengfurt site in Bavaria. As cement production is associated with considerable CO2 emissions, we and our partners are making an important contribution to reducing emissions. The use of the special OASE®-based process is open to all companies in the cement industry.
For more information on OASE® blue, see basf.com/oase-blue
Factors influencing sales
EBITDA before special items
| Million € | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Sales to third parties | 10,369 | 14,895 | 13,579 | 8,071 | 9,532 |
| Share of total BASF sales (%) | 15.0 | 17.1 | 17.3 | 13.6 | 16.1 |
of which Petrochemicals |
7,418 | 10,546 | 9,674 | 5,426 | 6,670 |
Intermediates |
2,951 | 4,349 | 3,904 | 2,645 | 2,862 |
| Income from operations before depreciation, amortization and special items | 1,167 | 2,774 | 3,842 | 1,305 | 1,574 |
| EBITDA margin before special items (%) | 11.3 | 18.6 | 28.3 | 16.2 | 16.5 |
| Income from operations before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) | 1,167 | 2,771 | 3,882 | 1,237 | 1,545 |
| EBITDA margin (%) | 11.3 | 18.6 | 28.6 | 15.3 | 16.2 |
| Income from operations (EBIT) before special items | 361 | 1,956 | 3,092 | 445 | 791 |
| Income from operations (EBIT) | 364 | 1,758 | 3,115 | –192 | 622 |
| Segment cash flow | –936 | 1,878 | – | – | – |
| Return on capital employed (ROCE) (%) | 3.3 | 15.6 | 33.9 | –2.2 | 6.8 |