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BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, has announced a realignment of its international coatings leadership, with new presidents for its coatings and polyurethanes divisions and related changes to its executive board.
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| Raimar Jahn will become president of BASF’s Polyurethanes Division. |
Effective March 1, Raimar Jahn, 53, who now heads BASF’s Coatings Division, will become president of the Polyurethanes Division, based in Brussels, Belgium. He will succeed Wayne T. Smith, who has been appointed to the company’s Board of Executive Directors.
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| Dr. Markus Kamieth will lead BASF’s Coatings Division, effective March 1, 2012. |
Dr. Markus Kamieth, Senior Vice President, Performance Chemicals North America, will succeed Jahn, pending formal approval of BASF’s Supervisory Board.
Board Changes
Smith, 51, an American, will assume his board seat April 27, after the company’s annual meeting. He will take the post of Dr. Stefan Marcinowski, 58, who is retiring.
The Supervisory Board has also extended the appointment of Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, Research Executive Director, until May 2015. Kreimeyer, 56, has been a board member since 2003.
The board has also announced reassignments of two key BASF divisions, known as Ressort VI and VII.
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| Wayne T. Smith, currently head of Polyurethanes, will join the Board of Executive Directors. |
Wayne Smith will take over Ressort VI, previously headed by Kreimeyer, assuming responsibility for Inorganics, Petrochemicals, Intermediates and Process Research & Chemical Engineering.
Kreimeyer will take over Ressort VII, previously headed by Marcinowski, and assume responsibility for Crop Protection, Coatings, South America, Biological & Effect Systems Research, Plant Science and BASF Future Business.
These changes will also take effect after the annual meeting.
New Growth Goals Announced
The Germany-based multinational has also announced detailed plans to strengthen its position as the world’s leading chemical company, outlining an ambitious new corporate strategy, called “We create chemistry,” on Nov. 29.
BASF forecasts that global chemical production will grow faster than global gross domestic product (GDP) through 2020. After 10 years at a slower pace, GDP should grow by an average of 3 percent per year for the next decade, while chemical production should grow by 4 percent per year, BASF forecast.
The company’s goal is to grow 2 percentage points faster than the general chemical production forecast, increasing sales by an average of 6 percent per year until 2020. Overall, BASF targets sales of about €115 billion ($150 billion US) and seeks to achieve an EBITDA of €23 billion ($30 billion US) in 2020.
‘Significant Contribution’
Dr. Kurt Bock, chairman of BASF’s Board of Executive Directors, said the company’s successful strategies of recent years had given it its current leading position.
“We will build on this and make a significant contribution to meeting the needs of a growing world population,” Bock said. “We have summarized what we do as a company in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future.”
BASF’s portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and agricultural products to oil and gas. BASF posted sales of about €63.9 billion ($83.2 billion US) in 2010 and had about 109,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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