BASF, which is based in Ludwigshafen, Germany, said the cost-cutting program would be implemented this year and next to generate annual savings of more than 500 million euros in the company's service, operating and research and development divisions and corporate headquarters.
It said that some plants at its sprawling Ludwigshafen site would close, affecting around 700 production jobs. But CEO Martin Brudermuller said the company was "very confident that we will be able to offer most of the affected employees employment in other plants." BASF reported a net loss for 2022 of 627 million euros, following a profit of 5.5 billion euros the previous year. The result was pushed down by charges of 6.3 billion euros related largely to the exit from Russia of its Wintershall Dea gas and oil subsidiary and on the unit's gas transportation business.