Sep 12 2005
Bitterfeld - Prof. Gottfried Plumpe, Member of the Board of Management of Bayer MaterialScience AG, and Prof. Georg Frank, Managing Director of Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH, sent the 500,000th ton of coating resin from the filling station on its way to the customer in a tanker truck sporting a new paint scheme. "We are very pleased to have reached this major production milestone so quickly. Six years after the coating resin plant came on stream, the 250,000th ton was sent on its way. Just four years later, we have now reached a volume of half a million tons. Our production grew by roughly 12 percent in the past year alone. This extremely positive growth is a clear indication of the demand for our high-performance coating raw materials," said Prof. Gottfried Plumpe.
Prof. Georg Frank spoke of another "milestone in the success story that is Bayer Bitterfeld." He also pointed out that high utilization of plant capacity and production optimization have lowered the production costs of the innovative and environmentally friendly products.
Bayer MaterialScience produces a total of 191 coating raw materials products in Bitterfeld, including 26 that were developed in the past year alone.
A particular focus is raw materials for environmentally friendly, low-solvent coatings and materials that contain no volatile organic compounds (VOC). UV-curing raw materials systems such as DesmoluxT - previously marketed as RoskydalR UA - and waterborne polyol systems from the BayhydrolR product line, for example, currently dominate production at Bitterfeld.
And the signs point to continued growth: BayhydrolR production, for example, has increased steadily since 1994, with double-digit growth possible in the coming years. Among the drivers of this growth are two successful new products produced in Bitterfeld and used in 100 percent solvent-free dispersions for the coating of wood and parquet: BayhydrolR XP 2557 and BayhydrolR XP 2593.
Strong growth is also expected for DesmoluxT, which is used in coating formulations that require no added solvent and are characterized by rapid curing and low application viscosity. Plans are therefore currently underway to expand production capacity for DesmoluxT and for dispersions.
Bayer MaterialScience's presence in Bitterfeld is not limited to just the coating resins plant, however. Bayer MaterialScience AG also operates Hi-Bis, a joint venture with Honshu Chemical Industry and Mitsui & Co. that produces up to 5,000 tons of special bisphenol per year. Wolff Cellulosics, a subsidiary of Wolff Walsrode, which itself is a Bayer MaterialScience company, operates a methyl cellulose plant on the site.
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