GERMANY – BASF SE, one of the world’s largest chemical producers, has declared force majeure on deliveries of select vitamin A, vitamin E, carotenoid products, and specific aroma ingredients following a fire at its Ludwigshafen, Germany plant on July 29, 2024. 

The fire, which caused damage to the facility, has severely impacted the company’s production capabilities, leading to immediate disruptions in the supply chain for these essential products.

The declaration affects a range of products, including vitamin A, vitamin E, and carotenoids, along with several key aroma ingredients such as ionones, pyranol, DL-menthol, rose oxides, ethyllinalool, nerolidol, and isophytol R. 

BASF stated that it is actively communicating with its customers to provide updates on the situation and the expected availability of these products.

The incident at the Ludwigshafen plant, a critical site for producing aroma ingredients and precursors used in vitamin A, vitamin E, and carotenoid manufacturing, also injured some employees. 

Commenting on this incident, BASF explained that a leak of an organic solvent led to an explosion and subsequent fire.

The BASF’s fire department extinguished the fire promptly and shut the plant down.

15 employees were slightly injured in the incident and were examined at the BASF Medical Center.

Fortunately, those affected were able to leave the medical centre on the evening of the incident. 

Despite the severity of the fire, BASF assured the public that the surrounding environment was not contaminated. The company’s environmental monitoring vehicles, deployed both inside and outside the site, detected no residues of the affected products in the air, water, or soil.

Currently, BASF has begun cleaning, inspecting, and repairing the damaged plant, although no specific timeline for the resumption of full production has been provided. 

The company remains focused on restoring operations as quickly as possible while ensuring the safety of its workforce and compliance with environmental standards. 

This incident is reminiscent of a similar event from October 2017, when a fire at BASF’s northern Citral facilities in Ludwigshafen caused a plant shutdown and led to a force majeure declaration for Citral and Isoprenol-based aroma products. 

That shutdown, coupled with concurrent supply disruptions in China, resulted in a sharp increase in the prices of vitamins A and E, driving market innovation for alternative feed sources.

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