By: ICN Bureau
Last updated : March 26, 2025 8:30 am
More than 1,100 patent applications, roughly 45 percent of which focus on sustainability
BASF generated sales of around €11 billion in 2024 with products that have come on the market in the past five years and stem from research and development activities. These figures can also be found in the BASF Report 2024, which was published on March 21, 2025.
“Our long-term aim is to further increase our sales and earnings from new and improved products – especially with technologies that contribute to sustainability,” said Dr. Stephan Kothrade, member of the Board of Executive Directors and Chief Technology Officer at BASF. In 2024, BASF was once again among the leading companies in the chemical industry in terms of the number and quality of its patents. The company filed 1,159 new patents, roughly 45 percent of which had a particular focus on sustainability.
Investments in research and development in 2024 amounted to €2.1 billion and were stable despite the economically challenging times. BASF thus continues to have a top ranking in the industry. For 2025, the company is planning a similarly high budget for research and development.
“Innovations are key to achieving the goals of our new ‘Winning Ways’ strategy. Our product and process innovations enable our customers to be successful in their markets while simultaneously reaching their sustainability targets,” said Kothrade. In terms of R&D, this means that in the future BASF will focus especially on technologies that contribute to the green transformation. These include, among other things, biodegradable materials, processes for sustainable value chains and innovative processes for the plastics circular economy. BASF will also accelerate the digital transformation – the use of digital tools in research and development – to bring better technologies to market more swiftly.
“The successes of the past year are the result of an exceptionally qualified team of around 10,000 employees working in R&D worldwide,” said Kothrade.
The experts work on projects that strengthen the company’s competitiveness and sustainability. The Smart Scientists interview series on BASF’s website provides glimpses into the company’s labs. Here, researchers share insights into their work in various scientific specializations. One example of a successful project in the area of plant biotechnology is the product Nemasphere. BASF researcher Dr. Marianela Rodriguez-Carres and her team developed a soybean seed trait that makes the seed resistant to parasitic nematodes (microscopic worm-like organisms) and thus enables farmers to achieve higher yields.