Global polymer company Bayer MaterialScience announced last week that during the course of this year, the company plans to start construction of a world-scale facility for the polyurethane raw material toluene diisocyanate (TDI) at the integrated production site in Shanghai, China.

The relevant Chinese authorities granted permission for the new plant, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2010, to have an initial capacity of 250,000 metric tons per year. The company's global TDI capacity will thus increase to over 700,000 metric tons a year. There are plans to expand the production capacity of the new plant to 300,000 metric tons per year at a later date.

Patrick Thomas, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer MaterialScience, expects a 4% annual increase in global TDI consumption in the medium term. Forecasts for China as the major growth driver in the Asia/Pacific region are twice that, at around 8% per year. TDI is deployed throughout the world to produce flexible polyurethane foam, which is used in large quantities in upholstered furniture, mattresses and car seats.

The innovative gas phase phosgenation technology developed by Bayer MaterialScience is being used on a world scale for the first time in the TDI plant. It reduces solvent consumption by around 80% in a production facility of this size, thereby cutting energy consumption by up to 60%. Thus the process technology enables a reduction in operating costs and also makes a key contribution to climate protection. Compared with conventional production facilities of similar size, carbon dioxide emissions can be cut by around 60,000 metric tons a year. The new process technology also cuts investment costs for this type of large-scale facility by some 20%.

The TDI project is part of a wide-ranging investment program at Bayer's integrated site in Shanghai. The total investment planned for this site up until 2012 amounts to 2.1 billion euros, 0.7 billion of which are scheduled for the period from 2009 until 2012. This will cover the expansion of the originally planned production capacities, including the necessary precursors, as well as any increased construction costs -- due to the price of steel, for example.

Global polymer company Bayer MaterialScience announced last week that during the course of this year, the company plans to start construction of a world-scale facility for the polyurethane raw material toluene diisocyanate (TDI) at the integrated production site in Shanghai, China.

The relevant Chinese authorities granted permission for the new plant, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2010, to have an initial capacity of 250,000 metric tons per year. The company's global TDI capacity will thus increase to over 700,000 metric tons a year. There are plans to expand the production capacity of the new plant to 300,000 metric tons per year at a later date.

Patrick Thomas, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer MaterialScience, expects a 4% annual increase in global TDI consumption in the medium term. Forecasts for China as the major growth driver in the Asia/Pacific region are twice that, at around 8% per year. TDI is deployed throughout the world to produce flexible polyurethane foam, which is used in large quantities in upholstered furniture, mattresses and car seats.

The innovative gas phase phosgenation technology developed by Bayer MaterialScience is being used on a world scale for the first time in the TDI plant. It reduces solvent consumption by around 80% in a production facility of this size, thereby cutting energy consumption by up to 60%. Thus the process technology enables a reduction in operating costs and also makes a key contribution to climate protection. Compared with conventional production facilities of similar size, carbon dioxide emissions can be cut by around 60,000 metric tons a year. The new process technology also cuts investment costs for this type of large-scale facility by some 20%.

The TDI project is part of a wide-ranging investment program at Bayer's integrated site in Shanghai. The total investment planned for this site up until 2012 amounts to 2.1 billion euros, 0.7 billion of which are scheduled for the period from 2009 until 2012. This will cover the expansion of the originally planned production capacities, including the necessary precursors, as well as any increased construction costs -- due to the price of steel, for example.