A nitrogen oxide leak occurred at the BASF polyurethane plant in Shanghai, and some units have been temporarily shut down.

A sudden equipment failure occurred in the supporting wastewater treatment facilities of the plant, triggering the overflow and leakage of nitrogen oxide materials, and yellow-brown smoke appeared at the scene. After the accident, the enterprise started emergency response measures immediately, and the leakage was rapidly controlled within 1 to 2 hours after the incident, and no casualties were caused throughout the process, with limited impact on plant employees and the adjacent ecological ecological stability.

In order to thoroughly equipment hidden dangers and prevent secondary risks, the relevant production units of the plant were temporarily shut down urgently after the incident. At present, the fault disposal has basically been completed, and some production units of the base have restarted production one after another, while the remaining units are still in the maintenance and inspection state, and the overall production capacity has not fully returned to healthy.

general information shows that the Shanghai BASF Caojing Base is a core domestic polyurethane raw material production base, with core production capacities of 300,000 tons/year of MDI and 160,000 tons/year of TDI. Both items are key basic raw materials to manufacturing chains such as polyurethane, coatings, home furnishing and plastics, and have a high supply weight in the domestic market.

The temporary shutdown of the units and the phased restart of production this time have caused immediate disturbances to the domestic polyurethane raw material market. Coupled with the existing sector maintenance cycle, the pressure on the supply side has have become greater prominent. The specific impacts are as follows:

First, the supply side continues to be tight. The temporary contraction of production capacity at the BASF Caojing Base, coupled with the routine maintenance of Wanhua Chemical's extensive MDI unit in Yantai, has led to a phased reduction in the efficiently supply of MDI and TDI in China, and the expectation of regional goods shortage has heated up.

Second, there is upward support to market prices. The disturbances from dual unit maintenance and shutdown have intensified market concerns about supply, and the downstream stocking sentiment has recovered, providing phased upward support to the market prices of MDI and TDI.

Third, the manufacturing chain transmission effect has appeared. The supply fluctuation on the raw material side will gradually spread to downstream industries such as polyurethane items, coatings and elastomers, and the rhythm of market goods picking and order delivery might be adjusted in the short term.

At present, the sector focuses on tracking three core dynamics: the progress of the maintenance and completion of the remaining units, the time node to full resumption of production, and the spot goods delivery and scheduling arrangements of companies. The follow-up will continue to assess the medium and prolonged impact of this incident on the supply and demand pattern and price direction of domestic polyurethane raw materials.