MOSCOW (MRC) -- Due to an unforeseen production outage at a supplier of nitric acid, Covestro’s European production facilities for the isocyanates MDI and TDI can currently only be operated at reduced capacity. Covestro therefore declared force majeure on October 6, 2016, said Covestro on its site.
Covestro is unable to fully compensate for the missing quantities of raw materials through purchases from other manufacturers. Its raw material supplier currently plans to restart its facility in the week of December 11, 2016. On the basis of this information, Covestro is striving to gradually restore its production output to a normal level.
"We deeply regret this restriction and hope to be able to resume full deliveries of MDI, TDI and by-products to our customers soon," said CEO Patrick Thomas. "Despite the extent of this issue, we in total do not expect a negative impact on our declared business targets for 2016."
During the force majeure period, Covestro is keeping its customers and suppliers informed about the situation and is helping them to find alternate solutions.
As MRC informed earlier, Covestro is moving forward with a repurposing of its production operations in Brunsbuttel, Germany. An existing, idled plant for the precursor TDI will be converted for production of MDI. The plans call for roughly doubling production capacity at the site to a total of approximately 400,000 metric tons of MDI per year. Commissioning of the new plant complex is scheduled for late 2018. Preliminary plans call for a total investment volume (in euros) in the low hundreds of millions, which is already included in Covestro’s medium-term capital expenditure budget.
With 2015 sales of EUR 12.1 billion, Covestro is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and the sports and leisure industries. Covestro, formerly Bayer MaterialScience, has 30 production sites around the globe and as of the end of 2015 employed approximately 15,800 people (full-time equivalents).
MRC