Demand for BASF’s products continued to be high in the third quarter of 2010. The company reported that there was hardly any sign of the usual seasonal slowdown and the capacity utilization rate was high.

LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany – Demand for BASF’s products continued to be high in the third quarter of 2010. The company reported that there was hardly any sign of the usual seasonal slowdown and the capacity utilization rate was high.

In the third quarter, sales rose by 23 percent to EUR 15.8 billion compared with the same quarter of 2009. Income from operations before special items increased by 77 percent to EUR 2,213 million. The high earnings level of the second quarter of 2010 was maintained.

Net income increased by EUR 1 billion to EUR 1.2 billion. At 33.4 percent, the tax rate was lower than in the third quarter of 2009. This was mainly due to the lower earnings contribution from the highly-taxed Oil & Gas segment.

Jürgen Hambrecht, Chairman of BASF’s Board of Executive Directors, said, “We anticipate our sales growth in 2010 will outpace global chemical production. Overall, we aim for sales of around EUR 63 billion and income from operations before special items of more than EUR 8 billion. We expect to earn a high premium on our cost of capital and thus to increase the dividend.”