The decline in volumes attributes to higher channel inventories in individual core markets as well as lower agricultural commodity prices.
In a tough market environment, BASF Group sales in the second quarter of 2023 declined by 24.7 percent compared with the prior-year period to €17.3 billion. ″We faced low demand from our key customer industries, except for automotive, ″ said Dr Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF, when presenting the results together with Chief Financial Officer Dr Dirk Elvermann.
In the Agricultural Solutions segment, sales of €2.2 billion were 9.3 percent below the level of the prior-year quarter. The main reason for this was the decline in volumes due to higher channel inventories in individual core markets as well as lower agricultural commodity prices. At €213 million, EBIT before special items was 4.3 percent below the prior-year quarter, especially due to lower volumes. Sales performance was also weighed down by currency effects. Significant increases in prices in all regions and indications had a positive effect.
A slight sales increase in Europe was mainly driven by considerably higher prices compared with the prior-year quarter. This more than compensated for lower volumes, primarily in fungicides, and negative currency effects, in particular in Turkey, Russia and Ukraine.
In North America, sales were considerably below the level of the prior-year quarter due to lower volumes, especially of herbicides, and negative currency effects, mainly from the Canadian dollar.
Sales in Asia declined considerably, primarily due to lower volumes of herbicides and fungicides. Currency effects, particularly in China and India, also had a negative impact on sales performance. Prices, on the other hand, were increased considerably.
Sales declined significantly in the region South America, Africa, Middle East. This was mainly driven by lower volumes, particularly in fungicides in Brazil, as well as negative currency effects, especially in Argentina. This could only be partially offset by considerably higher prices.
