On August 7, the German chemical giant declared force majeure on the supply of certain vitamin A, vitamin E, and carotenoid products, along with some aroma ingredients, after an explosion and a fire at its Ludwigshafen facility in late July.
The incident caused damage to the plant responsible for producing these ingredients and their precursors. Operations have been halted, and repair efforts are currently underway.
In its latest update, BASF outlined a tentative recovery timeline for production. The company anticipates that aroma ingredients will be the first to resume, with selected products potentially available by October 2024, followed by the rest by the end of November 2024.
Production of vitamin A, vitamin E, and carotenoid products is expected to restart no earlier than January 2025.
BASF cautioned that these estimates are subject to change as the full extent of the damage and the progress of repairs are still being assessed.
Even once production begins, the company noted that it will take several months to rebuild global, regional, and local inventory levels to restore "business as usual."
BASF suspects that a leak of an organic solvent triggered the explosion on July 29, but the exact cause remains undetermined.
Market volatility
The vitamin E and A market has seen a lot of volatility since the event.
This incident is reminiscent of a previous event in October 2017, when a fire at BASF's northern Citral facilities at the Ludwigshafen site led to a plant shutdown and a force majeure declaration for Citral and Isoprenol-based aroma products. Concurrent with supply challenges in China, the prices of vitamin A and E skyrocketed as a result.
