Ludwigshafen, Germany — Earnings in BASF's Materials Division fell 81% between the first half of 2019 and 2020 to EUR128m from EUR657m. Low diisocyanate margins hit performance.
Sales in the business fell 15% to EUR5bn in the half.
Materials hammered in H1 at BASF
Brudermuller: Coronavirus... a huge challenge
BASF said divisional 'sales declined considerably… this was mainly due to lower volumes, especially in the performance materials division.
'[This was] as a result of weaker demand from all customer industries but especially the automotive industry. Lower prices for isocyanates in the Monomers division also contributed to the decrease.
EBIT declined because of lower margins in the diisocyanate business. BASF put the fall in automotive production in the first half of 2020 at around 30%.
Considering the Performance Materials and Monomers Divisions together, they made EUR 80m loss in the second quarter.
Overall, BASF's sales were EUR 29.4 bn in the first half of 2020. This is a fall of 2% in comparison with the same period in 2019.
EBIT across the business fell 35% and hit EUR 1.5 bn. In the same period in the previous year the figure was EUR 2.3 bn.
The company said that it still cannot give any guidance about how its sales and earnings will develop over the rest of the year because of the unknown effects of coronavirus on the global economy.
Commenting on the results Martin Brudermuller said: 'The coronavirus pandemic is still a huge challenge for all of us. This situation is a catalyst for change and a chance to do many things differently.
