Early earnings reports from two of the world’s largest chemical companies—BASF and Dow—indicate that, despite a few rays of hope, second quarter results won’t be good for the chemical industry.
BASF’s sales fell 2.1% during the quarter versus the same period last year. Its net income tumbled 81.6%.
The company’s chemical business, particularly the petrochemical unit, continues to be a drag on its results because of oversupply in that sector. Chemical sales dropped 11.9% compared with the year-earlier quarter.
The German chemical maker had a couple of bright spots. Its agricultural unit busted out with a 21% volume increase for the second quarter. The gains came from BASF’s crop protection chemicals, herbicides in particular. Earnings for the segment nearly doubled.
BASF is legally separating its agricultural unit and plans to conduct an initial public offering in the business by 2027.
Surface technologies, which houses BASF businesses such as automotive catalysts, also had a banner quarter on the back of improving car sales. The segment posted an 11.0% increase in sales.
BASF says it is getting inquiries from industrial and private equity firms interested in buying its coatings business, another area it wants to exit. The unit, which includes the firm’s automotive coatings business, generated sales of $4.4 billion in 2024. “The process is well on track,” BASF CEO Markus Kamieth told analysts July 30.
The same overcapacity that weighed on BASF’s results was brutal for Dow. The company posted a 7.4% decline in sales, driven mostly by lower prices. It lost $800 million in the quarter; sales in its largest unit—packaging and specialty plastics—were down 8.9%.
Dow is already shutting three plants in Europe and conducting a round of layoffs to save money. The company has now resorted to slashing its dividend as well, by 50%. Dow prides itself on its dividend and has paid one every quarter since 1912.
“With $2 billion moving out every year in a fixed dividend, that really put some handcuffs on us from a capital flexibility standpoint at this part of the cycle, and reducing that dividend gives us more flexibility to do other things as we navigate through,” Dow CEO Jim Fitterling told analysts in a conference call July 24.
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