Dust explosion in silo at Denkavit in Voorthuizen

On April 8th, a dust explosion occurred in a silo from one of the production lines at the Denkavit factory in Voorthuizen. Due to our high safety standards, the safety of the employees has been ensured. The explosion caused only material damage. An in-depth investigation is currently being carried out to further identify the cause of the dust explosion.

A similar incident occurred at Denkavit five years ago. Also back then there were no casualties. In response to that incident, a thorough investigation was conducted by experts to determine the cause. Based on the conclusions of this investigation, Denkavit subsequently made substantial additional investments and implemented measures to achieve the highest level of dust explosion prevention. These precautions are primarily aimed at preventing a dust explosion. In addition, these measures are aimed at limiting the consequences and damage as much as possible in the event of such an incident occurring again.

How the dust explosion could have occurred despite our previously taken precautions remains to be investigated. On the other hand, we can already conclude that the measures taken to limit the damage have worked optimally. The damage in our production is limited.

The production of the young animal nutrition quickly restarted after the incident and will be further scaled up in the coming period. It is expected that production on the effected production line can also be resumed after the weekend. All efforts are now focused on scaling up production and investigating the cause of the dust explosion.

Although this incident obviously caused a shock, we are positive about the speed with which we can fully resume production.