BASF Ludwigshafen
Explosion

 

Firefighters battle the blaze at the BASF chemical company facility in Ludwigshafen, Germany, on Monday, 17 October 2016. (Xinhua News Agency/REX/Shutterstock) Firefighters battle the blaze at the BASF chemical company facility in Ludwigshafen, Germany, on Monday, 17 October 2016. (Xinhua News Agency/REX/Shutterstock)

ICIS continues to report on the consequences of the explosions and fire at the north harbour area of BASF’s Ludwigshafen site on Monday 17 October in which three people, including two of the company’s firefighters, died and eight were severely injured. BASF and its customers and suppliers are assessing the impact of the accident on the supply of products from Ludwigshafen, the world’s largest chemicals production site, and the supply of feedstock to the complex.

The company was forced to close the two steam crackers at the heart of the verbund site. And, downstream, 22 plants were closed or run at reduced rates. BASF says it will re-start the crackers from 20 October using an alternative naphtha supply.  Pipeline logistics to some of the site units, however, have been affected by the accident. Some 2,000 kilometres of pipeline help move chemicals and gases around the complex which produces about 8m tonnes of chemicals annually. 

BASF uses olefins and aromatics from its crackers at Ludwigshafen to produce a broad array of chemical intermediates.

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