BASF’s hub in Ludwigshafen, Germany, could be run at 50% under contingency plans for possible gas rationing. This column is part of the sixth annual Heard on the Street stock-picking contest . Chemical giant BASF BASFY 0.36%▲ is at the sharp end of Europe’s energy crisis. Based in Ludwigshafen, Germany, the world’s second-largest chemical producer by sales has contingency plans to deal with the possibility of gas rationing , but cuts would still hit it hard. Its broad product range—including plastics, fuels, lubricants, paints, battery materials, catalysts and nutrition products—also makes BASF an economic bellwether at a time when the outlook is bleak , particularly in its core European market. Making chemicals is energy intensive: The sector is Germany’s biggest industrial gas consumer, using about 135 terawatt hours of the fuel annually both as a feedstock and to generate power and steam. BASF itself used 48 terawatt hours of […]