The new cost-cutting program for BASF, announced on Wednesday, is expected to result in further redundancies within the corporate group. BASF CEO Markus Kamieth confirmed the details to the “Handelsblatt”. He explained that the initiative represents one of the largest optimization projects for the group-essentially forming a new operational system. This effort will consolidate the company into a smaller core business with fewer employees.
Under “Core Shift” BASF plans to streamline and standardize the organizational structures and processes within this newly defined core business. The scope of the program covers a business unit with an annual turnover of 40 billion euros. A major component of the planned savings will be reductions in personnel costs. The goal is to lower payable fixed costs within the core business by up to 20% by 2029, using 2024 costs as the baseline.
Kamieth did not disclose the exact amount of savings targeted by the plan. He stressed that the program is not a response to a potentially deteriorating economic climate. Instead, he stated that the project was “anchored in our 2024 strategy from the outset, now we are implementing it”.