The explosion happened around midday on Mnoday in the southern part of the massive Ludwigshafen plant in western Germany BASF said, and set off a fire that was extinguished an hour later.
The company said its injured employees had received care on site.
Images showed a cloud of smoke emanating from the Ludwigshafen plant, the largest chemicals complex in the world.
Residents were initially told to keep doors and windows shut, but authorities in the Rhineland-Palatinate city later gave the all-clear.
Environmental monitoring vehicles had detected "slightly elevated levels of hydrocarbons" in the immediate area, BASF said.
But the company said it had not recorded "any contamination of the air, soil or water" after the incident, adding that "There was no danger to the public."
An explosion at the largest German chemical industry factory BASF in Ludwigshafen, 14 people were injured, local media reports. pic.twitter.com/APwnQG9xma
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The company said the explosion was believed to have been triggered by "the emission of an organic solvent".
But the cause of the incident is still being investigated.
In 2016, the Ludwigshafen site was rocked by an explosion followed by a blaze that left five people dead.
Around 39,000 people work at the site.
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