Cut 6,000 jobs! New crown outbreak has 'significant impact' on chemical giant BASF's business

BASF of Germany predicted that
's earnings could fall further by

this year as a result of the outbreak of the new coronavirus, further slowing the growth of its largest customer base, the automotive industry.
, the world's largest chemical company by sales, said on February 28th that the new coronavirus had exacerbated global economic uncertainty in January and February and that it expected no further easing of trade conflicts between the United States and its trading partners.
Brudermueller, chief executive of the Chinese Government, said: "Coronavirus added a new factor at the beginning of the year, especially for the

. This has greatly hampered economic growth. Falling
production in many industries are the result of measures taken to prevent further transmission of the virus.said
its one-off adjusted EST profit could be between 4.2 billion euros ($4.6 billion) and 4.8 billion euros this year, below analysts' expectations of more than 5 billion euros.
last year, the company's EB profit was 4.54 billion euros, down 28% from 2018.
, which includes coatings, catalysts and foam chemicals, hopes the effects of the coronavirus will not have a significant impact in the second half of the year, but says the economy may recover slowly.
"We don't expect
impact of the outbreak to be offset any time during the year," said Martin Brudermueller, director of the U.S. Government.
"
expected a slight increase in full-year revenue. He added that the continued decline in production in the automotive sector, which accounts for about a fifth of BASF's business, was dampening modest growth in most other customer sectors.
adjusted earnings before interest and tax rose 23 per cent to 765 million euros in the fourth quarter of December, beat analysts' expectations, thanks to better-than-expected agricultural business.
said it was accelerating
plan to cut jobs, which began last year, and would cut 6,000 jobs.
the group now plans to cut costs by between 1.3 billion and 1.5 billion euros this year, exceeding its original target of 1-1.3 billion euros.
Martin Brudermueller added that spending on factories and equipment would become "rigorous" this year, with the investment budget increasing to 3.4 billion euros from 3.3 billion euros last year.
established plants in Guangdong Province, China, and Mondra, India, and sought to increase production of battery materials.
.