Raw materials, energy costs eat up profits!

Recently, major chemical giants have announced their results for the first half of the year, which can be described as mix.

BASF

Revenue was 312 billion, net profit was 27 billion, and net profit fell slightly in the first half of the year

On July 27, chemical giant BASF announced its results for the first half and second quarter of 2022 on its official websi.

BASF's revenue increased in the first half of the year, but the slight decline in profit was mainly due to a sharp increase in prices, especially in the fields of materials and chemicals; secondly, the currency exchange rate related to the United States also had a positive impact on the increase in reven.

In addition, BASF is still full of confidence in this year's performance expectations and has raised this year's performance expectations: the 2022 sales outlook has been raised to a range of 86 billion-89 billion euros, higher than the previous 74 billion-77 billion euros; Adjusted EBIT before special items to 8-2 billion euros, compared to 6-2 billion euros previous.

BASF also said that the main influencing factors are the current situation in Russia and Ukraine and the impact of energy and raw material prices and supplies, of which the potential threat in Europe is particularly obvio.

Dow Chemical (DOW)

Sales up 13%, profit edged down

Dow released its second-quarter 2022 financial report on July 21, with net sales of $17 billion, up 13% year-over-year, with growth across all operating segments and regio.

Volumes were flat year-over-year, with higher volumes in Dow's Packaging and Specialty Plastics operations largely offset by declines in the Industrial Intermediates and Infrastructure operatio.

GAAP net income was $7 billi.

Clariant

Sales up 29%, record EBITDA margin

In the first half of 2022, Clariant's sales from continuing operations were CHF 2,563 million (CHF 2,034 million in the first half of 2021), corresponding to an increase of 29% in local currencies (of which 25% was organic growth) and an increase of 26% in Swiss francs.

EBITDA from continuing operations rose 30% to CHF 436 million, with EBITDA margin increasing to a record 10% from 15% last year, thanks to continued cost control across the Group and significant profitability in Care Chemicals and Natural Resources increased, thus compensating for the weakness of the cataly.

Clariant expects strong growth in local currencies of CHF 5 billion this year and expects to improve Group EBITDA margin levels compared to the same period last year in a challenging geopolitical environme.

Solvay

Net sales in the first half of the year increased by 25% year-on-year

Solvay’s net sales increased organically by 36% in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the second quarter of 2021, driven by a 26% increase in prices (€690 million) and a 6% increase in volumes (€164 million).

Record underlying EBITDA for the second quarter of 2022 was €864 million, up 35% year-on-year, reflecting volume growth and higher prici.

Wacker

Q2 sales up 45%

WACKER CHEMICALS continued to grow in the second quarter of 202 The Munich-based chemical group achieved sales of EUR 2,172 million in the reporting period (Q2 2021: EUR 1,500 million), an increase of 45% over the same period last year and an increase of 5% over the previous quarter (EUR 2,072 millio.

Among them, the growth of the polysilicon business was particularly significant, and the increase in product prices led to a 68% increase in sales in this business segment compared with the same period of the previous ye.

(The information comes from the official channels of the above-mentioned chemical companies)