BASF to gradually restart steam crackers at fire-affected Ludwigshafen site

BASF announced that it will, over the next few days, gradually restart the two steam crackers at Ludwigshafen (German) site, which witnessed fire due to pipeline explosion on Monday killing three people.

Both steam crackers were shut down as a result of a fire in the North Harbor on October 17, 2016, due to the interruption in raw material supply. As a result, additional Verbund plants in the ethylene and propylene value chains were shut down or production reduced. In total, 24 plants have been shut down, including both steam crackers, due to the fire. Some of the plants were able to continue producing using existing raw material inventory.

BASF is currently preparing an alternative naphtha supply for the steam crackers via the harbour on Friesenheim Island. This supply is decoupled from the incident area. When the steam crackers are started up, most of the affected plants will also be gradually restarted or will increase production over the next few days.

The fire damaged various pipelines including those for externally purchased raw materials. Therefore, BASF has declared force majeure for the purchase of naphtha, ethylene and propylene.

“Currently, various measures are being evaluated to minimise the impact on customer deliveries. BASF is in close contact with its customers to keep them informed about the current availability of products,” said the company is a press release.