On July 29th an explosion and fire broke out at a chemical plant at BASF's base in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Basf recently reported that the production of vitamins and other products at the plant was affected.
Basf reported that the accident plant mainly produces precursors for the production of vitamins A, vitamin E and carotenoids, as well as some flavor products. After the accident, the relevant production facilities have been closed, and the supply of the above products has been affected by force majeure.A BASF spokesman said the company is in close contact with customers about deliveries. In addition, the German trade inspection agency is also investigating the cause of the explosion, and commissioned an outside expert to participate, so far ruled out the possibility of arson. According to police estimates, the direct damage caused by the explosion was about 2 million euros, or about 15.65 million yuan.
According to the data, BASF's vitamin A and vitamin E production capacity in Ludwigshafen, Germany, accounts for 26.7% and 13.8% of the global market, respectively, with annual production capacity of 14,400 tons and 20,000 tons. In 2022, BASF's Nutrition and Health division generated sales of approximately 4.6 billion euros, the majority of which were contributed by vitamin products. The explosion caused A sharp decline in the supply of vitamin A and vitamin E, not only the global price of vitamin products rose sharply, but also affected the downstream industry chain in food, medicine, feed and other industries, which may lead to a series of chain reactions.