MOSCOW (MRC) -- An explosion in a German industrial park on Tuesday killed at least two people and injured 31, setting off a fierce blaze that sent a pall of smoke over the western city of Leverkusen, several people were still missing, said Reuters.
The fire, which broke out at the site’s Burrig waste disposal complex following an explosion, has been extinguished, with rescue workers searching the site for the missing personnel. 16 people are known to be injured so far, at least two seriously, according to Chempark management.
Bayer, LANXESS, BASF and Covestro are among the players with operations in the area, with a spokesperson for LANXESS confirming that power supply to the Chempark is currently restricted, and that all company facilities have been brought down as a precautionary measure.
Bayer, Covestro and BASF had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Earlier it was reported that Bayer and Lanxess sold their stakes in the Currenta chemical park to funds managed by infrastructure investor Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA). Both companies signed related agreements with MIRA in August 2019.
Earlier it was said that the German concern BASF, the world leader in the production of chemical products in the world, keeps the capacity utilization at the expandable polystyrene (PSV-S) plant at its complex in Ludwigshafen (Ludwigshafen, Germany) at a reduced level in July due to technical problems , the letter says to the company. Thus, a technical malfunction at the reactor of one of the lines of this enterprise with a capacity of 200 thousand tons of PSV-S per year, discovered on July 11, led to a reduction in the production of Styropor F95, Peripor and F15 grades. It is currently unknown how long this line will remain underutilized.
According to MRC's ScanPlast, EPS consumption in Russia amounted to 40,690 tonnes in the first five months of this year, an 18% increase over the same period last year. In May, the consumption of EPS in the country increased by 35% compared to the same month a year earlier and amounted to 8,790 tonnes.
MRC