Covestro Constructing Two New Production Facilities
Global manufacturer of material solutions Covestro (Pittsburgh) broke ground last month for two new plants in Shanghai to meet the rising demand for polyurethane dispersions (PUD) and elastomers. According to the release, the new facilities will represent a combined investment of a mid-double-digit million euro amount and will be located within the Covestro Integrated Site Shanghai.
“These projects will contribute to the high-quality and sustainable development in China and beyond,” said Holly Lei, President of Covestro China. “They will also add to the scale and strength of our Shanghai site, which will be playing a key role in the quest of Covestro to becoming operational climate neutral by 2035.”
The PUD plant, including a line for polyester resins, is expected to be completed in 2024. These dispersions are used in coatings and adhesives in the automotive, construction, furniture footwear and packaging industry.
Covestro’s Bayhydrol and Bayhytherm raw materials are used in basecoats for automotive OEM and refinish coatings, as well as in wood and furniture coatings and robust floor coatings. Its Dispercoll U adhesives are used in furniture and shoe manufacturing as well as in the automotive industry.
“With the new investment, we will be even better positioned to address the rising demand for more environmentally compatible coatings and adhesives across the globe,” said Zhong Xiaobin, Senior Vice President of the Coatings and Adhesives segment of Covestro in the Asia Pacific region. “As one of the global leaders in this segment, we will continue to tap the trend where our customers turn to more sustainable waterborne systems with equally good properties to replace solvent-based products.”
The polyurethane elastomer facility is expected to become operational in 2023. The elastomers, used in dinsturies such as offshore win, solar energy and material handling, have a growing market in China and the Asia-Pacific region, with Covestro noting that it is growing faster than both gross domestic product and downstream industries.
“The new facility for polyurethane elastomers will ensure that we have a strong capacity to meet the needs of our customers,” said Simon Chen, Head of Covestro’s Elastomers segment in Asia Pacific. “Our Desmodur based polyurethane elastomers will serve a wider range of applications as they boast excellent performance, particularly in the field of sustainable energy.”
The company said it has invested 3.6 billion euro into building the Shanghai Integrated Site since 2001, comprising 11 plants and becoming its largest site in the world. It has also reportedly obtained the ISCC PLUS mass balance certification, meaning it can supply customers with larger product volumes from renewably attributed raw materials.
