Massive losses, layoffs, asset sales! How dire is the situation for global chemical giants in 2025?

The core reason behind such enormous losses is not operational deterioration, but rather large-scale asset impairments. SABIC disclosed in its financial report that it recorded substantial write-downs on certain assets, while average selling prices of key products declined, sharply eroding profits. Nevertheless, the company generated free cash flow of SAR 7.2 billion, up 17% year-on-year, providing ample financial resources to support its transformation. Covestro’s 2025 sales totaled €12.942 billion, down 8.7% year-on-year; EBITDA stood at €740 million, down 30.9%; and net loss widened to €644 million—compared to a €266 million loss in 2024. As the world’s leading polyurethane producer, Covestro is undergoing a challenging transformation. CEO Markus Steilemann stated the company is advancing its “Winning with Purpose” strategy, implementing cost reductions and business restructuring to navigate the industry downturn. Additionally, LyondellBasell reported 2025 sales of $30.153 billion, down 10% year-on-year; and a net loss of $738 million. In its financial report, the company candidly noted that 2025 marked one of the longest downturns ever recorded in the chemical industry, with weak global demand for polyethylene and polypropylene—especially amid persistently high inventory levels in the Chinese market—leading to sharp declines in product prices and margins. Notably, LyondellBasell exceeded its 2025 cash improvement target, achieving $800 million in cash improvement (against an original target of $600 million), and raised its cumulative 2026 target to $1.3 billion. Even under extreme adversity, the company delivered positive operating cash flow of $2.3 billion, with a cash conversion rate as high as 95%. Countercyclical Breakthrough: Who Is Growing Amid the Winter? Against the backdrop of widespread losses among global chemical giants, BASF delivered a relatively strong performance. Its 2025 sales amounted to €59.657 billion, down 3% year-on-year; yet attributable net profit surged 118% year-on-year to €1.313 billion—more than doubling from €602 million in 2024. BASF’s resilience stems from two pillars: first, its global leadership position in MDI, granting pricing power; and second, continued investment in emerging markets such as China. The company emphasized in its financial report that structural adjustments and cost-cutting initiatives at its Ludwigshafen site are progressing well, with cumulative cost savings expected to reach €2.1 billion by end-2026. PPG’s 2025 net sales totaled $15.9 billion—essentially flat year-on-year—a rare achievement amid the industry’s winter. Full-year operating cash flow reached $1.9 billion, up more than $500 million year-on-year. PPG’s steady performance owes to strategic business restructuring. In 2024, PPG divested its architectural coatings businesses in the U.S. and Canada, sharpening its focus on high-value-added segments such as aerospace coatings, protective & marine coatings, and packaging coatings. These technologically advantaged products achieved volume growth in 2025, helping maintain overall profitability. LG Chem’s 2025 sales totaled ₩45.93 trillion (approx. $32.1 billion), down 5.7% year-on-year; yet operating profit rose 35% year-on-year to ₩1.18 trillion (approx. $820 million). The core driver behind this counter-cyclical profit growth lies in its battery business. LG Energy Solution—the global leader in lithium-ion automotive batteries—continued benefiting in 2025 from the global expansion of the electric vehicle market.

PPG’s full-year revenue held steady at $15.9 billion in 2025, while net profit surged 17% to $1.6 billion.

Sales volume increased 1% year-on-year, with particularly strong growth in the high-performance coatings segment—including aerospace, protective, marine, and transportation solutions coatings. Market share also expanded in the industrial coatings segment across automotive OEM, industrial, and packaging coatings. However, declines in the automotive refinish coatings business and the global architectural coatings division partially offset these gains. PPG Industries’ Full-Year 2025 Performance Across Three Business Segments In 2025, the Group achieved EBITDA of $2.631 billion, up 9.26% year-on-year. Operating profit reached $1.587 billion, up 15.25%; net profit totaled $1.571 billion, up 17%. Net profit margin improved from 8.5% in the prior year to 9.9%. Adjusted net profit amounted to $1.722 billion, down 7.0% year-on-year. Amid a challenging macroeconomic environment, the company posted full-year earnings per share (EPS) of $6.92, and adjusted EPS of $7.58—down 4% year-on-year. EBITDA margin across all business segments stood at 19%. These results reflect robust sales performance driven by our technologically advanced products and strong brands, delivering record achievements across multiple business areas—including aerospace coatings, protective & marine coatings, and packaging coatings. In 2025, we demonstrated exceptional adaptability amid a challenging macroeconomic environment: sales volume and selling prices both rose across all four quarters, yielding 2% organic sales growth. We generated $1.9 billion in operating cash flow, with a free cash flow yield of 5%. During the year, we repurchased approximately $790 million worth of shares—about 3% of our outstanding shares. Including dividends, we returned $1.4 billion to shareholders in 2025. Factors Affecting PPG’s Q4 2025 Operating Performance PPG’s net sales for Q4 2025 totaled $3.914 billion, up 5.0% year-on-year. Organic sales rose 3%—the highest quarterly growth of the year—driven by broad-based growth across all three business segments. Overall selling prices increased 1% year-on-year, though part of this gain was offset by price declines in certain index-linked customer contracts. Overall sales volume rose 2% versus Q4 2024. Net sales also included a 4% benefit from foreign exchange translation and a 2% reduction due to business divestitures. Sales growth was primarily driven by aerospace coatings, protective & marine coatings, and architectural coatings in Mexico. Gains in market share within the industrial coatings segment further offset declines in automotive refinish coatings and architectural coatings in Europe and the Middle East. Net sales of automotive OEM coatings rose 6%, marking the second consecutive quarter of growth outpacing the broader industry. In aerospace coatings, both Q4 net sales and segment income hit new highs. For Q4 2025, adjusted diluted EPS was $1.51, compared to reported diluted EPS of $1.34.

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PPG Industries reported strong Q3 results with $4.4 billion in sales and raised full-year EPS guidance to $7.90-$8.10. The company demonstrated effective pricing strategies to offset persistent raw material inflation.

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