Surging 51-fold! BASF and Dow’s Q2 financial reports stage a dramatic turnaround—among global chemical companies pursuing ‘slimming down and upgrading quality,’ who are the top performers?

(II) BASF Group: Steady core-business growth + one-time gains from asset divestitures BASF’s Q2 2026 sales totaled €17.2 billion, an increase of €2.4 billion (+16.4% year-on-year). Price increases contributed +11.5%, volume growth contributed +7.3%, while exchange-rate effects exerted only a minor negative drag on commercial reporting. EBITDA excluding special items stood at €2.4 billion, up €854 million year-on-year. Core profitability improved significantly across its Materials, Chemicals, and Industrial Solutions segments. The extraordinary profit surge stemmed primarily from a one-time asset disposal: the sale of its Coatings business to Carlyle Group generated a post-tax gain of €3.5 billion, driving quarterly net income to €4.2 billion and net profit to €4.1 billion—versus just €79 million in the prior-year quarter. Excluding this transaction, Q2 EBIT was €937 million (up from €293 million year-on-year), and EBITDA excluding special items remained at €2.4 billion. Cash flow exhibited structural pressure: operating cash flow amounted to €524 million, down €1.1 billion year-on-year—mainly due to higher raw material prices inflating inventory and accounts receivable; investment cash flow swung sharply positive by €5.5 billion, entirely attributable to proceeds from the coatings business sale; free cash flow turned negative at €189 million, highlighting mounting working-capital pressure. Three Shared Underlying Drivers Behind the Breakout Performance of These Two Giants 1. Middle East geopolitical tensions reshaping global feedstock supply, boosting integrated gross margins via product price hikes According to industry analysis, escalating Middle East geopolitical tensions—and expectations of constrained passage through the Strait of Hormuz—combined with tightening global polyolefin supply, constitute key external catalysts for the current round of price increases. Restricted Strait access directly impedes exports of naphtha and polyethylene from the Middle East, causing feedstock shortages and reduced operating rates at cracking units across Asia and Europe. This has tightened global polyolefin and general chemical supply, pushing spot prices sharply upward. Dow leveraged its low-cost ethane-based integrated capacity in North America—unaffected by geopolitical disruptions—to raise polyethylene prices twice, directly widening product spreads. Although BASF’s European facilities face energy-cost headwinds, its Chemicals and Materials segments successfully passed rising costs downstream, aligning with the global pricing cycle; price increases thus became the primary driver of revenue growth for both firms. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil averaged $96.7/barrel in Q2 2026, prompting broad-based price hikes across chemical products and systemic recovery of global value-chain spreads—a dynamic fully mirrored by the explosive Q2 earnings of domestic refining & petrochemical leaders such as Rongsheng and Orient Henghong. Based on disclosed giant-company financials and domestic private-sector refining forecasts, the sector-wide profitability recovery trend is unequivocal. 2. Global synchrony in ‘cost reduction + capacity rationalization’: proactive divestiture of high-cost assets Both companies have moved beyond passively enduring cyclical losses into active restructuring and streamlining—with highly aligned strategic actions: First, large-scale workforce reductions. Dow launched a global layoff plan targeting 4,500 employees, with 55% implemented in Q2—cutting outsourcing and substituting automation for labor. BASF reduced its global headcount by 7,000 between 2024 and end-June 2026; full-time staff at its Ludwigshafen site fell below 30,000—the lowest level since 1954—continuously compressing fixed costs.

Authoritative Release | Who Are the Top 50 Global Chemical Companies by Revenue in 2025? With Detailed Data Analysis →

Chinese enterprises performed notably well: Sinopec, PetroChina, Formosa Plastics, Hengli Petrochemical, Syngenta, Rongsheng Petrochemical, Wanhua Chemical, Orient Henghong, Hengyi Holdings, Tongkun Group, and Xin Feng Ming all made the list—with Xin Feng Ming entering for the first time. Revenue Growth Among the Top 50 Global Chemical Leaders in 2024, more companies reported growth than decline in chemical revenue. Specifically, 32 companies saw their chemical revenue rise. Tongkun Group (China) posted the highest growth rate—22.6% year-on-year—making it the fastest-growing firm. Also from China, Hengyi Holdings ranked second with 10.0% growth; INEOS ranked third at +9.9%; and Xin Feng Ming (China) ranked fourth at +9.1%. Additionally, Japan’s Resonac and U.S.-based Eastman Chemical re-entered the Top 50, posting growth of +1.1% and +3.0%, respectively. ▲ Year-on-Year Change Rate of Chemical Revenue for the Top 50 Global Chemical Leaders in 2024 (Click image to view high-resolution version) Of the 18 companies reporting declining chemical revenue, U.S.-based Mosaic recorded the steepest drop. South Korea’s LG Chem, China’s Syngenta, U.S.-based PPG Industries, and the Netherlands’ Shell all registered declines exceeding 10.0%. Belgium’s Umicore, Canada’s Nutrien, and U.S.-based Albemarle exited the Top 50 entirely, with respective year-on-year chemical revenue declines of 18.0%, 13.8%, and 43.5%. Overall, regional performance diverged markedly in 2024. Among the Top 50, U.S., South Korean, Japanese, and European firms displayed pronounced polarization—roughly half grew, half shrank. In contrast, among the 11 Chinese firms on the list, seven posted revenue growth—but most experienced the phenomenon of ‘revenue growth without corresponding profit growth.’ 1. China Impacted by industrial-structure adjustments, weak domestic demand, elevated crude oil prices, depressed product prices, and sharply increased output volumes, most of the 11 Chinese chemical firms on the Top 50 list reported varying degrees of profit erosion—though Tongkun Group and PetroChina stood out exceptionally. Tongkun Group’s profits surged over 50%, driven by dual momentum: improved volume and pricing in its polyester filament core business, plus a sharp rise in investment returns from its stake in Zhejiang Petrochemical. PetroChina’s chemical business achieved an operating profit of RMB 3.16 billion, representing a RMB 2.47 billion year-on-year increase—the highest ever recorded. 2. United States Benefiting from cost control, robust market demand, investment, and technological advancement, U.S. firms posted varied revenue growth—and profits generally rose sharply. Dow, Westlake, and Mosaic all narrowed their year-on-year profit declines; ExxonMobil, DuPont, Chevron Phillips Chemical, and Eastman Chemical shifted from declines to growth; Sherwin-Williams and Ecolab saw growth rates moderate; Air Products and Celanese switched from growth to decline. Profit-wise: Dow’s profit jumped 82%; Air Products rose 68.2%; Chevron Phillips Chemical grew nearly 50%. 3. Europe The Russia-Ukraine conflict persists, economic growth remains sluggish, and the damage to Europe’s chemical industry continues to mount. Soaring energy prices and industrial-chain relocation have caused a substantial number of European chemical firms to report declining revenues.

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