With an investment of around EUR 300m, Covestro (Leverkusen / Germany; www.covestro.com) intends to expand its capacities in MDI production. The company will build a second aniline production plant in the vicinity of its existing one in Antwerp / Belgium, scheduled to go on stream in 2022. This facility will also use the method of hydrogenation for nitrobenzene reduction. The vast majority of aniline is used for MDI production.

Covestro did not release any figures on the planned capacity. According to the most recent information, the existing plant in Antwerp has a capacity of 215,000 t/y, and was last expanded in 2005/2006. Some plant construction experts estimate the stated investment could easily mean an additional aniline capacity of 300,000 t/y to 350,000 t/y.

The aniline can be shipped from the logistically well-situated location of Antwerp to all three of Covestro's European MDI sites, namely Brunsbüttel / Germany, where the MDI capacity according to Plasteurope.com's Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net) is currently being doubled from 200,000 t/y to 400,000 t/y, Tarragona / Spain, where a somewhat smaller expansion phase is currently underway and scheduled to go on stream in 2022, and Uerdingen / Germany. The present total capacity of 570,000 t/y will then rise to 820,000 t/y by 2022.