BASF to lift selected prices by up to 30% as costs jump

(Sharecast News) - German chemicals group BASF has revealed that it is increasing prices across its homecare, industrial cleaning and industrial formulators business by up to 30% due to soaring costs. In a short press release put out on Wednesday, the Ludwigshafen-based company said the changes would be effective immediately or as existing contracts allow.

"The move primarily comes in response to significant volatility in the pricing and availability of key raw materials, increasing domestic and transcontinental logistics costs, and soaring packaging and energy costs," BASF said.

Last Friday, the German chemical industry's trade body, the VCI, said the industrial base was "at risk of structural collapse" as a result of the Middle East crisis, which along with a spike in energy prices is causing supply disruptions for core materials such as phosphate, helium and sulfur.

"Even before the Iran war, there was no sense of optimism. The longer the war lasts, the more severe the consequences will be," said VCI chief executive Wolfgang Grosse Entrup.

The association, which represents over 2,000 chemical and pharma firms across Germany, called for "genuine willingness to reform and a powerful impetus in Berlin and Brussels".

BASF shares were more or less flat at €48.90 by 0950 GMT.