BASF has raised its full-year earnings outlook after reporting higher sales and earnings in the second quarter of 2026, with improved performance in its Materials and Industrial Solutions businesses providing particular relevance for packaging and plastics markets.
The German chemical group reported second-quarter sales of €17.2 billion, €2.4 billion higher than the corresponding period in 2025. Higher prices contributed 11.5%, while volumes increased 7.3%. Currency effects reduced sales across all segments.
EBITDA before special items increased by €854 million to €2.4 billion, driven principally by significantly higher earnings in Materials, Chemicals and Industrial Solutions as contribution margins improved. EBITDA rose to €2 billion from €1.3 billion a year earlier.
“We further strengthened BASF’s position in the market and achieved major progress with our restructuring as well as portfolio measures,” said BASF CEO Dr Markus Kamieth.
For the first half, group sales increased by €1.9 billion to €33.2 billion, while EBITDA before special items reached €4.8 billion, up €715 million year on year.
Packaging materials perspective
For packaging producers and converters, BASF’s relevance extends across several areas of material science and converting chemistry. Its packaging-related portfolio encompasses polymers and biopolymers, flexible-packaging adhesives, printing-ink resins, functional coatings, label adhesives, plastic additives and recycling technologies.
These include Ultramid polyamides and ecovio compostable biopolymers, alongside Epotal water-based laminating adhesives for flexible packaging. BASF’s Joncryl acrylic resins and dispersions serve applications including water-based printing inks, overprint varnishes and functional packaging coatings.
The company also supplies acResin and Acronal adhesive technologies, while its plastic-additives activities include solutions supporting polymer processing and recycled-plastic performance. Its circular-plastics activities extend to mechanical-recycling technologies and ChemCycling, where chemically recycled feedstocks can be attributed to Ccycled products through a certified mass-balance approach.
Outlook revised upwards
Following its better-than-expected performance, BASF raised its forecast for 2026 EBITDA before special items to €6.9–7.7 billion, compared with its previous €6.2–7.0 billion range. Its free-cash-flow forecast remains unchanged at €1.5–2.3 billion.
BASF generated approximately €60 billion in sales in 2025 and operates through businesses spanning Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Nutrition & Care, Surface Technologies and Agricultural Solutions.