German chemicals company BASF raised its 2020 sales target a quarter to €115 billion, banking on population growth in emerging markets to drive demand. BASF, the world's largest chemical company by sales, said it expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to reach €23 billion by 2020, helped by cost-cutting and growing sales in emerging markets.

On the way to that target it aims to have 2015 EBITDA of €15 billion, up from €11.1 billion last year. Its prior 2020 sales target was €90 billion. In the long term, emerging markets should account for 45% of sales at its core chemicals and plastics business, excluding its oil and gas unit, up from about a third last year.

"We already have leading positions and fast growing businesses in emerging markets, and this is something we will build on," chief executive Kurt Bock said.

The group said it expected the chemical industry's annual production volume to rise an average 4% and that BASF would grow two percentage points faster than this.