by staff
An explosion at the world?s largest chemical facility has killed two firefighters and shut down production. The explosion at BASF?s Germany plant near Frankfurt shut down the four square mile complex Monday that makes raw chemicals for BASF products. BASF is the world?s largest chemical company and says the facility is likely to face a prolonged shutdown.
The complex is home to some 39,000 BASF employees. An extended shutdown may tighten earnings for BASF and benefit Dow Chemical, according to Bloomberg. There?s no word yet on how the shutdown might impact the production of BASF?s agriculture chemicals.
BASF never joined the merger and acquisition trend within the agriculture chemical industry but did reportedly enter talks with Monsanto to sell-off BASF?s agriculture-solutions unit. However, that was before Bayer and Monsanto agreed on a merger worth $66 billion.
