thumb|BASF
'''BASF SE''' on saksalainen kemian alan yhtymä. Akronyymi BASF, joka on rekisteröity tuotemerkki, tulee alkuperäisestä yrityksen nimestä ''Badische Anilin-und-Soda-Fabrik''. BASF Group koostuu yli 160 yrityksestä 41 maassa ja myy 8&nbsp;000 kemian alan tuotetta. Yhtiön pääkonttori on Ludwigshafen am Rhein -kaupungissa Saksassa. Vuoden 2003 lopussa yhtiöllä oli yli 87&nbsp;000 työntekijää Saksassa. Vuonna 2006 BASFin liikevaihto oli 52 miljardia euroa.  
 
Sen liiketoiminta jakautuu seuraavasti: 
* kemikaalit, ml. lääkkeet
* muovit
* lannoitteet ja eläinten ruoat
* raakaöljy, Wintershall AG poraa öljyä venäläisen Gazpromin kanssa.

===Historiaa===
thumb|Friedrich Engelhorn
Friedrich Engelhor perusti BASFin farkkuhousuista myöhemmin tunnettu keinotekoinen indigonsininen väri, joka korvasi kasveista tehdyn alkuperäisen väriaineen. Juuri ennen ensimmäistä maailmansotaa Haber-Bosch-prosessilla pystyttiin valmistamaan juutalainen tiedemies, joka kehitti yhtiölle Zyklon B -tuholaismyrkyn. Vaikka ammoniakki tehtiin aluksi lannoitteita varten, sen sotilaallinen merkitys oli suunnaton 1. maailmansodan alettua ja Englannin estettyä guanon tuonnin Chilestä Saksaan. Saksan tykistö sai ajopanoksensa ilman luonnon omaa ammoniakkilähdettä BASFin avulla.

toisessa maailmansodassa sotarikoksista sittemmin tuomitun Monowitzia, Birkenaun liepeillä.

== Aiheesta muualla ==
* [http://www.basf.com BASF]

{{Infobox Company 
| company_name = BASF SE
| company_logo = center|220px|
| company_type = Public (, )
| foundation = 1865
| location =  Ludwigshafen, Germany. 
| key_people = Jürgen F. Strube (Chairman of the supervisory board, since 6 May 2003)<br>Jürgen Hambrecht (Chairman of the board, since 6 May 2003)<br>Eggert Voscherau (ViceChairman, since 6 May 2003)
| industry = Basic Materials
| products = Synthetics
| revenue =  €52.61 billion (2006)
| net_income =  €3.215 billion (2006)
| market capitalization = €48,29 billion 
| num_employees = 95,247 (2006)
| homepage = [http://www.basf.com basf.com]
}}
'''BASF SE''' (, , is a German chemical company and the largest chemical company in the world.<ref>[http://www.hoovers.com/basf-ag/--ID__41755--/freeuk-co-factsheet.xhtml BASF SE information and related industry information from Hoover's United Kingdom (UK)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ''BASF'' originally stood for '''Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik''' ('''Baden Aniline and Soda Factory'''). Today, the four letters are a registered ADR from the New York Stock Exchange in September 2007.

The BASF Group comprises more than 160 subsidiaries and joint ventures and operates more than 150 production sites in Europe, Asia, Australia, Americas and Africa. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany). BASF has customers in over 200 countries and supplies products to a wide variety of industries. Despite its size and global presence BASF receives little public attention as it has abandoned consumer product lines in the 90s.

At the end of 2006, the company employed more than 95,000 people, with over 47,000 in Germany alone.  In 2006, BASF posted sales of €52.6 billion and income from operations before special items of over €6.7 billion. The company is currently expanding its international activities with a particular focus on Asia. Between 1990 and 2005, the company invested €5.6 billion in Asia, for example in sites near Nanjing and Shanghai, China and  Katipalla in India.

== Investors ==

72% of the BASF shares are held by institutional investors (AXA SA more than 5%, Allianz AG 2.6% and General Capital Group 2.1%). 45 % of the shares are held in Germany, 17.3 % in the UK and 13.5 % in the U.S.

== Business segments ==
thumb|BASF building
thumb|BASF headquarters, Ludwigshafen, Germany
BASF operates in a variety of markets. Its business is organized in the segments Chemicals, Plastics, Performance Products, Agricultural Products & Nutrition and Oil & Gas. The company occasionally advertises to the public. Its slogan is "BASF The Chemical Company" 

===Chemicals===
BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.

===Plastics===
BASF offers a comprehensive product line and market expertise ranging from commodities to engineering and high-performance materials in thermoplastics, foams and urethanes.<ref>[http://www.plasticsportal.com BASF Plastics Portal - Global Homepage<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

[http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/engineering_plastics/engineering_plastics '''1. Engineering Plastics''']<br />
BASF's Engineering Plastics consists of the "4 Ultras" - [http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/engineering_plastics/ultramid Ultramid®] polyamide (PA) nylon-based resins, [http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/engineering_plastics/ultradur Ultradur®] polybutylene tererphthalate (PBT), [http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/engineering_plastics/ultraform Ultraform®] polyacetal (POM), and [http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/engineering_plastics/ultrason Ultrason®] polysulfone (PSU) and polyether sulfone (PES).

[http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/styrenics/styrenics '''2. Styrenics''']<br />
BASF Styrenics consists of the Foams and Copolymers. BASF's styrenic copolymers have applications in electronics, building and construction, and automotive components. 

[http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/common/content/products/polyurethanes/polyurethanes '''3. Polyurethanes''']<br />
BASF's Polyurethanes business consists of diverse technologies and finished products. Urethane chemicals are raw materials used in rigid and flexible foams commonly used for insulation in the construction and appliance industries, furniture, packaging and transportation. 

[http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/foams/foams '''4. Foams''']<br />
Foams like [http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/foams/styropor_productline Styropor®] are generally used as insulating materials. They are eco-efficient and offer advantages over other materials in terms of cost-effectiveness, preservation of resources and environmental protection. Investments made for insulating materials usually pay for themselves within a short time and contribute to retaining and even enhancing the value of buildings.

[http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/polyamide_intermediates/polyamide_intermediates '''5. Polyamides and Intermediates''']<br />
BASF is a manufacturer of polyamide precursors and polyamide. BASF offer polyamide 6 and polyamide 6,6 polymers as well as precursors.

[http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/biodegradable_plastics/biodegradable_plastics '''6. Biodegradable Plastics''']<br />
BASF was a pioneer in manufacturing and developing biodegradable plastic, namely, [http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/biodegradable_plastics/ecoflex Ecoflex®]. [http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/biodegradable_plastics/ecovio Ecovio®], consists of [http://www.plasticsportalasia.net/wa/plasticsAP~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/biodegradable_plastics/ecoflex Ecoflex®] and a high content of polylactic acid.

===Performance products===
BASF produces a range of performance chemicals, coatings and functional polymers. These include raw materials for detergents, textile and leather chemicals, pigments and raw materials for adhesives. Customers are the automotive, oil, paper, packaging, textile, sanitary products, detergents, construction materials, coatings, printing and leather industries.

===Agricultural products and nutrition===
BASF is a supplier of agricultural products and chemicals for agriculture and animal nutrition, and for the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. In the field of plant biotechnology, BASF is concentrating on solutions for effective agriculture, healthier nutrition and plants to make products more efficiently. Products from this segment include fungicides, herbicides, vitamins, pharmaceutical active ingredients and UV absorbers for sun creams.  The company recently has diverted their research interests to Nutrigenomics to tailor the social responsibility of public health <ref name=ydtyg>{{cite web
  | last = GeneWatch UK
  | first = 
  | authorlink = 
  | coauthors = 
  | title = Your Diet Tailored to Your Genes: Preventing Diseases or Misleading Marketing?
  | work =
  | publisher = 
  | date = 
  | url = http://www.genewatch.org/uploads/f03c6d66a9b354535738483c1c3d49e4/Nutrigenomics.pdf
  | format =
  | doi =
  | accessdate = 9 May
  | accessyear = 2008 }}</ref>.

===Cosmetics===
BASF Cosmetic Solutions specializes in chemicals that many name brand skin care companies worldwide use to formulate their own products. Chemical types such as but not limited to: emulsifiers, solubilizers, anionic surfactants, glycol polymers, colorants, styling polymers, hair setting resins, conditioning agents, thickening polymers, emollients and UV absorbers.

===Oil and gas===
BASF explores for and produces oil and gas through its subsidiary Wintershall Holding AG. In Central and Eastern Europe, Wintershall works with its Russian partner Gazprom.

== Production ==
BASFs recently success is characterized by a focus on creating resource efficient product lines after completely abandoning consumer products. This strategy was reflected in production by a re-focus towards integrated production sites. The largest such integrated production site is located in Ludwigshafen employing 33,000 people.
Integrated production sites are characterized by co-location of a large number of individual production lines (producing a specific chemical), which share an interconnected material flow. Piping is used ubiquitously for volume materials. All production lines use common raw material sourcing and feed back waste resources, which can be used elsewhere (e.g. steam of various temperatures, sulfuric acid, carbon monoxide etc.). The economic incentive for this approach is high resource and energy efficiency of the overall process, reduced shipping cost and associated reduced risk of accidents. Due to the high cost of such an integrated production site it establishes a high entry barrier for competitors trying to enter the market for volume chemicals.