10 January 2018
DETAILS
BASF launched a website,
to inform its customers, industry stakeholders
and the interested public
about the progress of the repair work
at its Citral production plant in Ludwigshafen.
Following a fire at the plant on October 31, 2017,
BASF was forced to declare Force Majeure
on all its Citral and Isoprenol-based aroma ingredients and
on Vitamin A and E, and several Carotenoid products.
The website also provides up-to-date estimations
of product availability after the start-up of the plant.
As of today, BASF confirms that it still expects
to start up the Citral plant in March 2018 at the earliest.
The start-up procedure is expected to take several weeks.
After initiation of Citral production, downstream products
need to be manufactured in a step-wise approach.
Estimations of product availability
Aroma Ingredients:
The availability of downstream products
from BASF’s aroma ingredients business
will vary product by product.
For about 80% of the portfolio, manufacturing of initial volumes
will start within the first four to eight weeks
after start-up of the Citral plant.
The remaining products (e.g. Acetates)
will be manufactured subsequently as soon as possible.
Human Nutrition, Animal Nutrition and Cosmetic Ingredients:
The Vitamin A and E plants in Ludwigshafen
will only be able to restart once supply of Citral
is re-established and the corresponding intermediates
for Vitamin A and E become available.
The downstream products of
BASF’s human and animal nutrition businesses
as well as the cosmetic ingredients business
(Vitamin A, E, several Carotenoids) from the Ludwigshafen site
are expected to become available for shipment or transport
six to 12 weeks after the start-up of the Citral plant.
Actual availability will strongly depend on the product.
Once manufactured, the lead time to ship products
to the regions differs, taking from a few days
or weeks within Europe, to several weeks or months
in countries overseas.
BASF is currently supplying its existing stocks available
from before the incident on October 31, 2017,
to customers in a fair and reasonable manner
according to contractual obligations and applicable law.
Customers that require specific information not covered on
the launched website are kindly asked
to contact their sales representative.
Melanie Maas-Brunner,
President of BASF’s Nutrition & Health division
“The Force Majeure has put many of our customers
in a very difficult situation, which we sincerely regret,”
“I can assure them that it is our top priority
to get the Citral production plant in Ludwigshafen back on stream.
At the same time, we want to keep our customers
and stakeholders continuously informed
about what we are doing and how we are progressing.”
BASF SE
67056 Ludwigshafen
http://www.basf.com
presse.kontakt@basf.com
Media Relations
Tonia Theiss
Telefon: +49 621 60-52459
tonia.theiss@basf.com
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