Covestro has announced plans to invest more than €100 million to expand its global films production in order to meet rising demand.

The German high-tech polymers company said it is investing in promising technologies and applications at its sites in Germany, USA, China and Thailand. The high-quality semi finished film products are used in automotive interiors, security cards, and medical devices and displays, among others.

In Dormagen, Germany, Covestro is building new coextrusion lines, which are scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2020. This project follows a previous investment of around €20 million at the Dormagen site where a coextrusion plant producing high-end multilayer flat polycarbonate films was added in 2017.

A new plant based on modern coextrusion technology is also under construction in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, and scheduled for completion by the end of 2019. In parallel, Covestro is converting its existing coextrusion line in Guangzhou, China, with the first volumes being available from mid-2019. A second phase, for which a timescale has not been given, will actually increase capacity.

Finally, the company is implementing measures to increase efficiency and quality at its site in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, USA.

The projects will also include expansions of associated infrastructure and logistics. When completed, and according to current plans, Covestro will create more than 100 new jobs worldwide to operate the new plants.

In separate news, Covestro is reported by trade journal Chemical Week to be close to announcing an investment in a world-scale MDI plant at one of its existing locations. While Covestro has not revealed capacity or investment costs, Chemical Week understands the fully integrated plant will be designed to produce 400,000 t/y of MDI and cost around €1 billion.

The Leverkusen-based group is already undertaking several MDI expansions. Capacity at Brunsbüttel, Germany, is being doubled to 400,000 t/y by the end of 2018 and output in Tarragona, Spain, is being expanded by 50,000 t/y to 220,000 t/y by 2022.

In China, Covestro is debottlenecking its MDI complex at Caojing, near Shanghai, in two phases. In a first stage, capacity will rise from 500,000 t/y to 550,000 t/y in the fourth quarter of 2018. A second expansion will further expand output to 600,000 t/y in the first quarter of 2021.