On 1 April 2017, Hartwig Michels, the current president of BASF's (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) Europe division, will take over as president of Petrochemicals. He succeeds Rainer Diercks, who will retire on 31 March 31. Michels' current position will be filled by Markus Kramer, president Dispersions & Pigments at BASF Hong Kong, who will in turn be succeeded by Gops Pillay, who currently serves as president of South & East Asia at BASF Hong Kong. The game of musical chairs goes on, with Andrea Frenzel, current senior vice president of Strategic Planning succeeding Pillay in Hong Kong.

Also on 1 April, Melanie Maas-Brunner, senior vice president Performance Materials Europe, will take over as president of Nutrition & Health. She succeeds Saori Dubourg, who will join the company’s board of directors. Her successor, meanwhile, has yet to be named.

Completing the reshuffle, Dirk Bremm, senior vice president Construction Chemicals Americas, will take over as president of Coatings on 1 April when the current head of the division, Markus Kamieth, will join the board of executive directors.