BASF headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Ger.
Gewetz
- Share price:
- $11.91 (mkt close, Jun. 14, 2024)
- Earnings per share (prev. year):
- $0.7
- Sector:
- Industrial Applications and Services
- Industry:
- CHEMICALS & ALLIED PRODUCTS
BASF Aktiengesellschaft
, (German: BASF Limited-liability Company), German chemical and plastics
manufacturing
company originally founded in 1865 and today operating in some 30 countries. The BASF Group produces oil and
natural gas
, chemicals, fertilizers, plastics, synthetic fibres, dyes and pigments, potash and salt, inks and printing accessories, electronic recording accessories, cosmetic bases, pharmaceuticals, and other related equipment and products. Headquarters are in
Ludwigshafen am Rhein
, Ger.
The company was founded in 1865 in
Mannheim
, as Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik (Baden Aniline & Soda Factory), one of the first
dyestuff
manufacturers producing a full range of chemicals from basic materials to finished products. The principal founder was Friedrich Engelhorn (1821?1902), a former goldsmith and manufacturer of coal-tar dyes. In 1919 head offices moved across the Rhine to Ludwigshafen. From 1925 to 1945 the company was part of
IG Farben
(
q.v.
), the world’s largest chemical concern; the latter was dissolved by the
Allies
in 1945, and Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik, refounded in 1952, became one of the three successor firms. The shortened name, BASF Aktiengesellschaft, was adopted in 1973.
This article was most recently revised and updated by
Amy Tikkanen
.