Business | The high cost of low pressure

Can Deutschland AG cope with the Russian gas shock?

Probably yes in the short term. In the longer run, German business will need to adapt

Steam cracker II, the largest individual plant at BASF's Ludwigshafen site, covers a surface area of about 64,000 square meters, which is about the size of 13 soccer fields. The steam cracker is also the heart of BASF's Verbund production strategy. This giant plant has been operating since 1981 and uses steam to crack naphtha at about 850°C [1,562°F]. This process leads primarily to ethylene and propylene, both indispensable feedstocks for manufacturing numerous products in Ludwigshafen.

Jul 14th 2022|Ludwigshafen

Founded in 1763 by Frederick the Great, Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur still uses traditional methods to make its high-end porcelain. As in the past, kpm vases and cups are blasted with heat in furnaces: first at 1,000°C, then at 1,400°C. Hardly the cutting edge of German manufacturing—but emblematic. kpm’s fortunes are, like those of German industry as a whole, tied to the availability of cheap natural gas. Its four ovens consume almost as much of the stuff in a year as 100 single-family homes.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “The high cost of low pressure”