ALTHOUGH THIRD-QUARTER sales and earnings numbers don’t always support the claim, European chemical company executives contend that the worst is behind them in the economic crisis that has plagued their industry for the past 12 months. The heads of Bayer and BASF, Europe’s two largest publicly traded chemical makers, both spoke with guarded optimism in announcing third-quarter earnings last week. Bayer Chairman Werner Wenning was particularly upbeat, stating that his company finally increased underlying earnings compared with the year-ago quarter. “We are very pleased to have reversed the earnings trend despite the fact that many industries are still suffering from the economic crisis,” Wenning said. Bayer’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and special items were up 0.4%, although its net earnings were still down by just more than 10%. Stock analysts were impressed by Bayer’s Material-Science division, which reported earnings just short of prior-year results. Ulrich Huwald, an ...