OREANDA-NEWS. BASF increased spending on research and development to EUR 1.8 billion (2012: EUR 1.7 billion) in 2013. “In absolute terms, we lead the field in the chemical industry with our research and development expenditures,” said Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE and Research Executive Director, at the Research Press Conference on the topic ”Nanotechnology: Small dimensions – great opportunities” in Ludwigshafen.

BASF has a workforce of around 10,650 employees working in international and interdisciplinary teams on around 3,000 research projects to find answers to the challenges of the future and secure sustainable profitable growth for the company.

The innovative strength of BASF is demonstrated once more by sales of new products introduced onto the market within the past five years: Last year these amounted to about EUR 8 billion. In 2013 alone, the company launched more than 300 new products on the market. The patent portfolio also reflects the success of the company’s research activities. With 1,300 patents filed last year and about 151,000 registrations and intellectual property rights worldwide, BASF is at the top of the Patent Asset Index for the fifth time in succession.