A fire at a BASF facility has forced the German chemical giant to declare a force majeure for vitamin A and E products.
The fire occurred at manufacturing facility in Germany for aroma ingredients. The company had already declared a force majeure for certain citral and isoprenol-based products due to the accident. But because those chemicals are key ingredients for vitamins A and E, BASF has extended the force majeure to cover those products as well. The company says it will not be able to restart its production line for vitamins A and E until its supply of citral is restored.
“The fire was caused by a technical equipment failure that was beyond BASF’s control,” a spokesperson for BASF stated. “While starting up our citral production plant in Ludwigshafen after a scheduled maintenance shutdown, organic material caught fire in the late evening of Oct. 31.”
No one was injured in the accident.
The company is working to limit the damage of the situation, but if the force majeure continues, it would obviously benefit BASF’s competitors in the vitamins market.
