The lifting of the force majeure for additional vitamin derivatives and for several affected carotenoids within the animal nutrition business will follow subsequently, said the German chemical group.
Following an incident in its citral plant in Ludwigshafen in Germany on October 31, 2017, BASF was forced to declare force majeure for its citral and isoprenol-based aroma ingredients, its vitamin A and E products and several carotenoids.
BASF manufacturing accounts for 45% of the global supply of citral, an essential precursor in the manufacture of vitamin A and E so the fire in October created a huge shortage of those critical feed ingredients globally.
In terms of its human nutrition business, the lifting of the force majeure for vitamin A and E is only expected to take place in Q3.
“Due to a more demanding quality testing process relative to its animal nutrition business, BASF expects to lift force majeure for vitamin A and E products as well as carotenoids for its human nutrition business from mid of Q3 2018 onwards, in a step-wise approach.”