Excellent placing in sustainability reporting ranking of Germany's 150 biggest industrial and service companies Rankings for greater comparability of sustainability reporting  Berlin, Germany BASF was honored on February 28th for its Report 2010, which documents the company's economic, environmental and social performance. BASF"s integrated approach to reporting is a response to greater demands for transparency and information.

With third place in the independent rankings of Germany's Institute for Ecological Economy Research (I&OW) and future e.V., BASF has achieved a leading position for the third time running. The awards are sponsored by the German government's Council for Sustainable Development and the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, with Minister Ursula von der Leyen as patron.

The I&OW/future ranking of large companies has assessed the sustainability, CSR or similar reports of Germany's 150 biggest industrial and service companies eight times already. "Based on global megatrends, the chemical company shows which corporate and social challenges it sees and how it wants to contribute to tackling them," said Jana Gebauer, I&OW sustainability expert and project manager of the I&OW/future rankings. "With respect to what society regards as controversial business sectors, BASF presents its positions openly February and reports on its dialogues with the relevant interest groups," Gebauer added.

The aim of the I&OW/future rankings is to make it possible to compare the sustainability reporting of German companies. The rankings also help to develop sustainability reporting further. An additional aim is to enhance public awareness of companies' performance through their reporting. This promotes a constructive dialogue about sustainability requirements within society.

Note to editors:

BASF has published an integrated corporate report since 2007. BASF's first environmental report was published in 1988 and its first corporate report containing economic, environmental and social topics in 2003.

More information about I&OW, future e.V. and the rankings is available at: http://www.ranking-nachhaltigkeitsberichte.de/en.html

BASF's current report can be found at: basf.com/overview

More about BASF's activities in the area of sustainability can be found online at: http://www.basf.com/sustainability.

About BASF

BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success, social responsibility and environmental protection. Through science and innovation we enable our customers in almost all industries to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and system solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring healthy food and nutrition and helping to improve the quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF posted sales of about €73.5 billion in 2011 and had more than 111,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

BASF Corporation

BASF Corporation

BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals and oil and gas. As a reliable partner, BASF creates chemistry to help its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges, such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €50 billion in 2009 and had approximately 105,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

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