BASF Wins Sustainability Certification, Sells Mining Unit and Starts Up $1 Billion MDI Plant — While Jefferies Turns Bearish
Published on 11/14/2026 at 17:41 | Editorial boerse-global.de
BASF has packed an unusually busy week into a handful of days, pairing a sustainability credential and a pair of portfolio moves with a fresh bearish verdict from Wall Street. The Ludwigshafen-based chemicals group secured FairWild certification for Cegesoft® SB 45 TR, a shea-butter-based ingredient, a stamp the company says confirms compliance with the standard for wild-collected botanical raw materials.
The certification, announced Thursday, sits at the greener end of a week in which BASF also moved to shed a business and bring new capacity online. Also on Thursday, the company signed an agreement to sell its global mining business to SNF. The operations involve roughly 140 employees and the Cork production site, with closing anticipated in 2027 subject to regulatory clearances and customary conditions. No financial terms were disclosed.
Evonik Stands Firm
Talks with Evonik over a potential takeover showed no sign of a breakthrough. According to Reuters, Evonik held to its rejection of the raised offer on Monday, even after a meeting between the two companies' leadership, and no further meetings were planned following that report. BASF is the prospective buyer in the approach, with Evonik the target.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying BASF?
On the production side, BASF officially commissioned a new MDI plant at its Geismar complex in Louisiana on Wednesday. The investment came to roughly USD 1 billion and lifts annual production capacity at the site to around 600,000 tonnes. A day earlier, the group said it would switch its European polyisobutene production for external customers entirely to renewable electricity, with the conversion of the eligible Oppanol B and Glissopal products slated for completion from January 2027.
Jefferies Cuts to Underperform
Against that operational backdrop, Jefferies downgraded BASF from "Hold" to "Underperform" on Wednesday, keeping its price target at EUR 44. Analyst Priyanka Patel pointed to shrinking margins, persistent oversupply, higher gas prices and a demand recovery that has yet to materialise. For 2027, she projects an operating result 5 percent below consensus.
The stock nonetheless closed Friday's session at EUR 54.33 — comfortably above the target Jefferies has set.
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