BASF has revised down its 2025 earnings forecast, with projected EBITDA now between €7.3 and €7.7 billion, compared to the previous range of €8.0 to €8.4 billion. The company attributes the cut to slowing global economic activity and the chilling effect of U.S. tariffs, which have caused clients to delay or reduce orders across key sectors.

In the second quarter, operating profit declined by nearly 10% year-over-year, signaling broader caution across the industrial and agricultural sectors. BASF cited a "more restrained order pattern" from customers impacted by trade volatility, particularly in the automotive, manufacturing, and agrochemical segments.

Despite BASF's strong local production footprint in the U.S.-with over 80% of North American sales coming from domestic plants-, indirect impacts from the global tariff landscape are clearly being felt. This includes a decline in demand for essential agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, crop protection products, and livestock feed additives.

These shifts threaten to disrupt the entire agrochemical supply chain, increasing input costs for U.S. farmers and posing challenges to yield optimization and operational planning for the 2025 season.

In response, BASF is implementing a cost containment strategy that includes shutting down underperforming sites, selling non-core assets, and reallocating resources to high-margin sectors like industrial chemicals, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture solutions.

For U.S. producers, this is more than a corporate earnings story-it's a signal of how macroeconomic and trade headwinds can ripple through the farm economy, from input availability to crop cost structures. Ag professionals are advised to monitor pricing trends and explore risk mitigation strategies as the chemical sector repositions under pressure.