A Force Majeure event announced out of Bayer’s headquarters in Germany is impacting glyphosate supplies in some countries not including Australia.

A FORCE Majeure event impacting Bayer AG’s production of glyphosate is not expected to impact Bayer’s ability to supply herbicides to its Australian customer base.

In a statement, a Bayer spokesperson said Bayer in Australia was confident it will be able to supply customers and growers with enough glyphosate-based products to meet current forecast autumn requirements.

“We are currently working to understand if there are any immediate implications for Australian customers and growers and will be providing more information as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

From its global headquarters in Germany, Bayer AG global head of active ingredient manufacturing, Udo Schneider, on Friday announced the Force Majeure.

“One of our key raw material suppliers experienced a mechanical failure in its manufacturing plant which leads to a substantial reduction in production rates,” Dr Schneider said in the statement.

“As of now, given the supplier notification, we expect repairs of this production line to take around three months.”

Bayer said its ability to supply its customers with glyphosate or glyphosate-containing products in line with certain agreements, or under accepted purchase orders, had been impacted.

“We apologize for this impact, but hope you appreciate this situation is beyond our reasonable control.”

The statement from Bayer in Australia said the global crop-protection industry was already experiencing historically tight supply.

This was due to challenging trade flows, effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other forces which have continued to put pressure on already tight supplies.

Bayer has not made public the ingredient in question in the Force Majeure, nor the supplier or location.

Source: Bayer