BASF to cut 2,600 jobs as energy crisis hits German industry

Rising energy costs are only half the truth. &quot;BASF to Cut 2,600 Jobs after losing 2 billions in Russian investments &quot; could be the other headline. All their investments in Russia have been confiscated. This is a bit ironic, as BASF was on of the major forces that pushed Germany into its energy dependence from Russia.<p>And what did they learn from it? =&gt; Hey, look, China! Let&#x27;s invest another 10 billion there.<p>They even fired Saori Dubourg just a few days ago - She was the only board member that disagreed with this China strategy.

AFAIU a lot of the Ruhr valley region heavy industry has been built around coal. That can not be used in the future for climate reasons. This is true for iron reduction and steel making around the world.<p>And then there&#x27;s all the other industry that supports that heavy industry. So if the heavy industry goes, some of that other industry also goes. Europe should have multiple strategies for dealing with it. Steel, fertilizers, plastics and aluminum all are still needed in the future.<p>Iron reduction needs to move to a place where cheap electricity and iron ore are available. Cheap electricity won&#x27;t be available in the Ruhr valley in the absence of nuclear power in the future. It&#x27;s a lousy place for renewables. Spain and Portugal would be absolutely terrific for renewables. I don&#x27;t know about mineral availability though.<p>Iron reduction -&gt; steel -&gt; car bodies -&gt; car accessories etc.<p>I call it the industry refactoring.

This seems somewhat more justified than the average tech company layoff: company turning cheap Russian gas into intermediate products hits economic difficulty as its raw material becomes dramatically harder to buy.

The crisis is so <i>hard</i> they won&#x27;t be able to increase dividends. Sad.

PDF with the BASF information: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.basf.com&#x2F;global&#x2F;documents&#x2F;en&#x2F;investor-relations&#x2F;calendar-and-publications&#x2F;presentations&#x2F;2023&#x2F;BASF_Charts_Analyst_Virtual-Conference_FY-2022.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.basf.com&#x2F;global&#x2F;documents&#x2F;en&#x2F;investor-relations&#x2F;...</a>

They get to reap what they have sown. That, or they should have factored in the 4x higher natural gas prices at which the Americans are providing them with (compared with the prices of Russian gas) since the very beginning.

They should relocate to the US. Energy is way cheaper there!

The glee over this is amusing. No, Europeans are not ready to give up to Russia for a price reduction just like democrat Americans are not ready to transfer the control of their bodies or love affairs to the republicans in exchange for cheaper gas.

Has the market for cassette tapes dropped off finally?

Anyone remember this viral clip of Germany reacting to Trump&#x27;s UNGA speech about relying on Russian energy?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;FfJv9QYrlwg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;FfJv9QYrlwg</a>

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;shorts&#x2F;jAm8cSBtA9o">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;shorts&#x2F;jAm8cSBtA9o</a> - but they&#x27;ll keep going &quot;no matter what German voters think&quot;.

I fail to see how western Europe survives another 20 years. They don&#x27;t have energy resources, they don&#x27;t really produce industrial raw materials like iron and steel. They don&#x27;t produce enough food for themselves. The engineering gap between them and the 3rd world is rapidly closing.