Tarragona, Spain – Covestro is to invest EUR 200m to increase capacity at its Tarragona site to 220 kT/year, the company has said.
A key part of the investment will be in chlorine production at the site, while the remainder of the cash will be spent on a 50 kT/year debottlenecking programme.
Chlorine production, using energy efficient technology, is expected to start in 2020, and the debottlenecking process will run until the end of 2022.
The company also confirmed in the same statement that it plans to expand MDI capacity at Brunsbuettel, Germany, by the end of 2018.
Markus Steilemann, chief operating officer, said, ‘This investment enables us to meet the additional growth of our customers and also supports our own organic growth.’
CEO Patrick Thomas said: ‘We are fully committed to the MDI market and our site in Tarragona. By debottlenecking and establishing our own chlorine supply, this site will become an even more efficient and competitive plant within our network.’
As recently as 4 December 2015, Covestro’s plant at Tarragona was set to close by the end of 2017. However, in March this year, the company announced it was to continue MDI production at Tarragona.
