BASF “Tight supply” of 2 personal care ingredients following fire

BASF, which produces numerous cosmetics ingredients, experienced a fire at its plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany on 29 July, 2024, and has now declared Force Majeure​ for selected vitamin A, vitamin E, and carotenoid products, as well as selected aroma ingredients.

Commenting specifically for the cosmetics and personal care industry, a spokesperson at BASF said: “Due to the incident at the plant in Ludwigshafen, we will face a tight supply over the next few months for two products in our Personal Care portfolio.”

“We are proactively informing our customers of potential shortages and are taking measures to minimise the impact for them,” they stated.

The company listed selected aroma ingredients that will be impacted after the incident. These are Ionones, Pyranol, DL-Menthol, Rose Oxides, Ethyllinalool, Nerolidol, and Isophytol R.

After-effects of the fire: damage to the plant​

Some BASF employees experienced slight injuries after the incident, but the company said that all were able to leave the Medical Centre that evening.

It also stated that there was no contamination of air, water, or soil. "BASF’s environmental monitoring vehicles were underway inside and outside the site and did not detect any product residues," it said in a statement. 

The fire has caused damage to the plant, which has led to the shut-down that is disrupting the supply of the previously mentioned ingredients.

Cleaning, inspection and repair work has now began.