BASF headquarters has confirmed novel coronavirus pneumonia and its close contacts have been quarantined at home.

Novel coronavirus was confirmed by a staff at the Ludwigshafen plant in the headquarters of the company in March 8th, according to the official website of BASF group, the global chemical giant At present, the infected and their close contacts have been isolated at home BASF said that the company's medical service department will continue to work closely with the local health authorities and consider further measures in consultation with the competent departments of the above employees BASF recently replied on twitter that the company currently forbids employees to travel to high-risk areas If employees return from these areas for business or personal reasons, they must be isolated at home for 14 days It is worth noting that the spread of new coronavirus has also affected the chemical industry BASF had previously warned that the outbreak could cause the growth rate of global chemical production to fall to the lowest level since the financial crisis But it also said that despite the high level of uncertainty in the current environment, the company "will still strive to increase sales to 60 billion euros to 63 billion euros." BASF Group is one of the world's leading chemical enterprises and one of the world's top 500 companies It has more than 160 wholly-owned subsidiaries or joint ventures in 41 countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America The company's products are divided into six business areas, including chemicals, materials, industrial solutions, surface treatment technology, nutrition and care, and agricultural solutions BASF's 2019 financial report shows that the company's sales volume last year was 59.3 billion euros, which was slightly reduced compared with the previous year due to the impact of sales volume and price EBIT excluding special items was EUR 4.5 billion, down 28% year-on-year, mainly due to lower earnings in the two business areas of materials and chemicals.