BASF CEO Hans Engel On Currency After Q4 Beat

BASF SE BAS chairman and CEO Hans Engel appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box Tuesday, after their Q4 earnings beat analysts' estimates, where he discussed the euro's instability and what it means to the German chemical company moving forward. “I think we expect pretty much an environment like we've experienced in the — in the year 2013, which was challenging. Global economy not growing at the pace that we've seen it growing in 2012. We think growth will be — GDP growth globally will be stronger than in '13. We also believe that we will be faced with a situation as we've experienced it last year, which was clearly characterized by — by currency volatility by an increasing euro,” said Engel. Related: How To Buy Cheap And Reap The Rewards “Keep in mind if you compare the U.S. dollar to the euro, we are currently in the range of 1.37 to the euro where we were at roughly 1.30 in the year 2012. And that clearly, for a company reporting its earnings in euros has an impact." Engel also mentioned that the company could start paying a “certain levy” if Germany goes forward with changing energy policy for “power and the steam that you produce in your own plants,” which BASF does.  Jason Cunningham had no position with the mentioned entities while writing this article. Visit Jason on Twitter at @JasonCunningham and @Benzinga.