Covestro To Shutter Polyurethane Precursor Facility

In its first significant action since spinning out of Bayer in October,Covestro, the former Bayer MaterialScience business unit, will close a polyurethane precursor unit in Tarragona, Spain, by the end of 2017 because of high production costs. Up to 120 jobs will be affected by the decision.

Before making the call to shut down the 170,000-metric-ton-per-year methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) unit, Covestro says its board considered adding chlorine capacity at the site. Chlorine is a key raw material used to make MDI, a component of rigid polyurethane building insulation foam.

But ultimately the firm decided it would expand MDI capacity at an existing European site where it already has what it calls “modern and reliable supplies of chlorine.” Covestro currently produces MDI and chlorine at other European sites such as Brunsbüttel and Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany.

“We have to continually work on our competitiveness,” explains Joachim Wolff, head of the firm’s polyurethanes business unit.

Covestro says it will continue to operate a polyurethane systems formulation business in Tarragona and distribute hydrochloric acid from the site. HCl is used locally for metal processing and water treatment. The firm says it will also continue to operate a chemical industrial park for other tenants at the site.