The Business Model of BASF

Chemical, automotive, and energy industries, agriculture, and the construction industry are the most important customer areas for BASF products. Health, nutrition, electrical/electronics, textiles, packaging, and paper are important customer sectors. BASF is the market and technological leader in numerous fields. It holds rights to more patents than any other corporation in the world, 110 000, and registered over 1,100 new patents in 2010. In 2010, about 1.5 billion euros were invested in research, and around 9,600 individuals were employed at the company's worldwide research facilities. Crop protection and nutrition is the Group's most intensively researched sector, accounting for 26% of research expenditures. This makes BASF the largest chemical firm in the world based on sales.