BASF sees restocking but demand is off from 2007-2008 - analyst

07 October 2009 13:42  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--BASF is starting to benefit from restocking but a return to the level of demand for the company’s products seen in 2007-2008 is still some time off, according to investment bank JP Morgan Cazenove.

The German chemical major's trading is clearly better now than several months ago, the bank said.

According to the bank, however, BASF is unsure if it will experience a “v-shaped” or “w-shaped” economic recovery, given that customer ordering patterns display more caution – with smaller orders, but more often – and that improvement may be attributed to various government stimulus packages.

Chemical prices had benefited from some of BASF's competitors suffering cracker outages, combined with lower raw material costs and stable pricing, the bank said.

BASF'S smaller 220,000 tonne/year cracker at Ludwigshafen, Germany, is in the process of restarting, which is helping to ease the supply situation, the bank added.

The note said that BASF would now have to see whether its improved conditions were due to genuine new demand, or the result of government stimulant packages.

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By: Lucy Craymer
+44 20 8652 3214

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