New site agreement for Ludwigshafen

The management and employee representatives of BASF have concluded a new site agreement for the company's giant verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, entitled ‘Shaping the Future for a Strong Site’. The parties said that this “addresses the current challenges facing the chemical industry. In an economically and geopolitically challenging environment, the agreement focuses on the competitiveness and adaptability of the site.”

Among other key details, there will be compulsory redundancies during the five years to the end of 2030 for which the agreement is intended to run. It will initially operate for three years but this will automatically be extended for two more if the agreed targets for restoring profitability are achieved.

BASF will invest around €2 billion/year on modernisation and expansion of infrastructure, capacities and the “sustainable transformation” of the site. The transformation will involve simplifying the organisation, increasing flexibility, using digitalisation and AI for continuous productivity gains, further developing working time management and the use of digital tools to support personnel deployment.

“Given the persistent structural and economic challenges, this outcome was is by no means a foregone conclusion,” said Sinischa Horvat, chairman of the works council. “But in the end, it is a clear commitment to the site, to the employees – who are the key to success – and an expression of confidence that together we can get BASF SE back on track for success.”

Separately, BASF has agreed to sell its optical brightening agent business, part of its Care Chemicals division, to Catexel. Terms are not being disclosed and the sale is expected to close in Q1 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. This is part of the company’s ‘Winning Ways’ strategy of portfolio management.

Catexel is the care chemicals platform of ICIG, the private equity-backed owner of numerous chemical operations, mainly in Germany. It is taking control of the OBA production at Monthey, Switzerland, and gaining about 80 employees. BASF remains a major supplier of ingredients for the home care and industrial & institutional cleaning markets.