On 31 October 2017, a fire broke out during the startup of the Citral plant in Ludwigshafen. Consequently, the Baden Aniline and Soda Factory (BASF) had to shut down the plant and declare Force Majeure for its Citral and Isoprenol based aroma ingredients.
BASF’s Vitamin A and E plants have also been shut down for scheduled routine maintenance. The company will only be able to restart these plants once supply of Citral is re-established and intermediates for Vitamin A and E are available.
Since to the cleaning process, follow-up inspection, repair and restart of the Citral plant will take several weeks, BASF is forced to extend the Force Majeure to Vitamin A and E, along with several Carotenoid products. Meanwhile, BASF is implementing measures to limit the negative consequences of the situation.
