Dec 13 2006
Bayer MaterialScience AG has now completed the expansion of its production facilities for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in Tarragona, Spain by 50,000 tons a year to an annual capacity of 150,000 tons. As a result, the company has a global production capacity of almost 1.1 million tons per year. Plant capacity at Tarragona for the intermediates carbon monoxide (CO) and methylene diphenyl diamine (MDA) has also been expanded.
"This expansion is our response to the growing demand for MDI in Eastern and Western Europe and the Middle East," says Peter Vanacker, head of the Polyurethanes Business Unit at Bayer MaterialScience. "We are thereby underlining our leading position in the polyurethane industry and are now in a position to provide even better service and support for our customers as they continue to grow. Furthermore, as a key location in our global production network, Tarragona will continue to supply customers in other regions as well."
MDI production facilities in Krefeld-Uerdingen (Germany) were also expanded in summer 2006 by 36,000 tons to a capacity of 200,000 tons a year. At its integrated Shanghai site, Bayer MaterialScience is currently building world-scale production facilities capable of producing 350,000 tons of MDI each year. The facilities are to start operating in 2008 and will mainly supply customers in the Asia-Pacific region. A splitter used to extract monomeric and polymeric MDI from crude MDI that has a plant capacity of 80,000 tons a year went into operation there in June 2006. Bayer MaterialScience also operates production facilities for MDI in Brunsbüttel (Germany), Baytown and New Martinsville (both United States), Belford Roxo
(Brazil) and Niihama (Japan).