The world’s largest chemical company is closing a number of its factories, as the era of cheap Russian gas grinds to a halt amid a deterioration in the global economy.
BASF SE will cut 2,600 positions, about 2 percent of its global workforce, to save on operational costs, as the European Union’s biggest chemical firm is forced to deal without affordable Russian energy imports.
Natural gas prices in Europe soared last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, 65 percent of BASF’s proposed layoffs in Germany, will be mostly in administrative and research positions.
Germany’s chemical and pharmaceutical industry employs about 466,500 people worldwide and has an annual turnover in excess of $211 billion, according to government data from Berlin….