BASF vitamin production returns to normal after fire
Citral-based aroma chemicals were also affected in the ‘Force Majeure’ but BASF said it had been able to reignite production within the four weeks it had estimated a week after the incident.
“BASF announces that, effective as of the release of this information the company is lifting its declaration of Force Majeure…” it said.
It added: “Meanwhile the company was implementing measures to limit the consequences of the situation and was continuously informing customers on its development,” the agro-chemcials giant said of the problem at its Ludwigshafen plant.
“Product supply will normalise within the framework of delivery lead times and respective inventory levels.”
The company had been supplying customers on a pro-rata basis while the situation at the plant was rectified.
“The Force Majeure situation is not related to any product safety or quality issues,” it said.
In 2010 the company outlined energy efficiency improvements that would save the company €10m at Ludwigshafen.
After it acquired Cognis in 2009, BASF moved its nutrition and health division HQ to nearby Lampertheim in 2010. The division produces vitamins, carotenoids and enzymes, and pharmaceuticals.
“The Nutrition & Health team is currently working at different locations in Ludwigshafen and Limburgerhof,” relayed (since departed) Walter Dissinger, head of the Nutrition & Health division at the time.
“At the Lampertheim site we can bring together the whole team at short notice. We will benefit from the existing good infrastructure at the site. At the same time, the geographical proximity to corporate headquarters in Ludwigshafen, where many of our production plants and labs are situated, will have a positive effect.”
BASF acquired fellow German supplier Cognis in 2010.
