BASF’s plan to wean itself off cheap Russian gas comes with pitfalls

better place to experience German efficiency than at Ludwigshafen, a site operated by , the world’s largest chemicals company, an hour’s drive south of Frankfurt. Everything is joined together in this city-sized cluster of dozens of plants connected by 2,850km of twisting pipes, from two steam crackers, industrial cathedrals where a hydrocarbon mixture called naphtha is split into its components, to an immense incineration facility, where residues are put to rest. Despite the vast scale of Ludwigshafen everything is accounted for. Reuse and recycling ensure that barely a molecule is wasted. According to ’s proud tour guide, 94% of the chemicals that enter this system make it into one of the firm’s 45,000 products. Yet ’s success is not entirely home-baked. Another essential ingredient is cheap Russian gas, reliably delivered via pipeline. The complex in Ludwigshafen is Germany’s biggest industrial consumer of the stuff, piping in about 4% of the country’s total annual gas consumption, enough to heat millions of households through the coldest of winters. uses about half to produce steam, the other half as feedstock. “There is no question that low-priced energy has brought wealth to Germany,” says Martin Brudermüller, ’s chief executive. “If prices had been higher, maybe parts of our production would already be gone.”