With the new capacity, the German engineering plastics manufacturer aims to meet the growing demand for environmentally compatible coatings and adhesives in the Asia-Pacific region in industries such as automotive, construction, furniture, footwear and packaging.

The plant, expected to come on stream in the first quarter of 2024, will be producing waterborne PUDs with properties equal to the performance of solvent-based types, and also grades with more circular contents.

“With this new facility we aim to offer the broadest portfolio of PUDs to support the sustainability efforts of downstream industries here in Asia Pacific,” said Thorsten Dreier, chief technology officer of Covestro. “The modular concept adopted in the construction phase will also enable us to implement future investment projects and build up capacity more efficiently to capture market demand.”

According to Covestro, the plant, which is housed at the company's Shanghai Integrated Site (CISS), was built by a service provider using modular construction methods in Nantong, Jiangsu Province. After completion, the individual modules were transported to the final site and assembled there.