A collegiate kind of chemistry Kurt Bock would probably have preferred it if all eight members of the BASF executive board had joined him for this interview. Sitting in the company's headquarters in Ludwigshafen, on the banks of the river Rhine, the chief executive of the German chemical maker modestly attempts to deflect attention from himself by paying frequent tribute to colleagues and predecessors. Mr Bock insists, for example, that he prefers the more collegiate German title of chairman of the board of executive directors to the US conception of a strongman CEO. "It's a very good team we have here," he says. We try to steer the company together - it's not a one-man show. It's a very different system in the States. Mr Bock is in a position to know, having served as chief financial officer and head of BASF's North American operations before assuming the top job last year. "Everybody [in the US] is looking at the one guy at the top and they want to know how he feels and thinks and how is he doing today," he says. Like nearly all BASF senior management, he wears a company pin badge on his lapel that suggests the team-player message is not merely disarming rhetoric. The arrival of a photographer is met with a mock grimace. When told that this is a necessity for the FT's Monday interview, Mr Bock suggests, with typical wry humour, that perhaps the interview might appear on a Tuesday instead. He quips that quarterly business television appearances are "not my favourite thing." Mr Bock's inclination to avoid the limelight befits a company whose chemical ingredients are an unseen presence in a vast array of everyday products. The granules that make nappies absorbent, foams used in home insulation, skin protection filters in sunscreen and catalysts that clean exhaust fumes all emerged from BASF's laboratories. This diversity and complexity is one reason why in spite of offering investors ample returns over the past decade, BASF's stock price has continued to trade at a lower earnings multiple than some of its peers. His children, now grown-up, were also previously at a loss to understand their father's job. I was sometimes envious of other people who did something very visible and practical. Because I was always the guy who went to the office and my children asked me: "What do you do? Read the newspaper, and have meetings?" " Today, a day at the company would provide a visual feast. Near the BASF headquarters, the company's gargantuan chemical complex known as the Verbund is in full swing. Covering 10 square kilometres, a dense jungle of colour-coded pipes knits together a legion of production plants that split, combine and recycle all manner of chemicals and by-products. Passenger and goods trains trundle through the site where hard-hatted employees whizz around on red BASF bicycles. Finished compounds and chemicals are carried off by vessels that queue up at an adjacent river port. Mr Bock was born in Rahden, a town in a somewhat sleepy corner of North Rhine-Westphalia, where his parents ran a hotel. He has spent his entire career at BASF, save for a six-year stint at Robert Bosch, the German industrial conglomerate. Sites such as the Verbund chemical complex have helped BASF maintain its position as the world's largest chemical maker by sales, in the face of stiff new competition. In the Middle East, companies such as Saudi Arabia's Sabic are expanding rapidly thanks to their abundant supplies of cheap feedstock. Meanwhile, US chemical companies stand to benefit from vast supplies of shale gas, which Mr Bock describes as a possible "game-changer" for parts of the US chemical industry. By selling some petrochemical assets and acquiring speciality chemical companies, BASF has been shifting its focus downstream and into emerging markets. Its goal now is to engineer more high-tech products that cater to customers" particular needs. This has helped it keep its nose in front and reduce its exposure to the economic cycle. Last year it increased revenues by 15 per cent to €73.5bn, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 8 per cent to €12bn. While he shares the credit with predecessors and colleagues, Mr Bock's modesty should not be confused with shyness or a reluctance to lead. In his one year as chief executive he has taken bold decisions, and he is forthright on prickly political issues that directly affect the company and its 111,000 employees. This year, BASF announced that it would shift its plant-science headquarters to the US after failing to overcome domestic political and social hostility to genetically modified crops. Protesters had repeatedly assailed the company's test fields. In Germany many people take the moral high ground. We simply say our supermarkets are full so there's no need and it's too risky, in spite of hundreds of studies to the contrary," he says, with scarcely concealed frustration. We have this romantic idea of agriculture, of the farmer ploughing the field, walking behind his horse. The political parties reflect the view of the public . . . And this is supported by certain NGOs that have a business of sometimes almost scaring people . . . Don't forget, Germans travel to America and eat these [GM foods] and come back healthy. Following Germany's decision to abandon nuclear power he says the country will have to overcome a latent hostility towards the vast new electricity power lines required to connect wind power on its northern coast with the energy-hungry industrial heartlands of the south. "There's certainly a strong feeling in Germany of not-in-my-backyard," he says, noting however that BASF is somewhat protected from the threat as it produces a lot of its own electricity. Many of our customers are concerned - if you are a power-intensive business you might feel like an endangered species. He cautions the EU against imposing even tougher emissions regulations on companies, saying these businesses might otherwise shift production elsewhere. "We have to ensure that industrial production in Europe can remain competitive," he says. But Mr Bock professes optimism about Europe's economy, which accounts for just over half of BASF's sales. Admitting that Germany could do more to stimulate consumption, he says other countries must also work to improve their own competitiveness. Imbalances are a big issue - but how do you overcome this? By telling those guys to basically stop exporting? It's like entering a race and telling people "don't try to win." Business is about competition.