Covestro broke ground today in Antwerp for a new world scale production facility for the manufacture of aniline. With the capacity expansion, the company is strengthening its European production network for the foam component MDI. For this purpose, Covestro is investing more than €300 million. Depending on the volatile economic situation, the plant is scheduled to be operational in early 2025. This will create around 40 new jobs.
The basic chemical aniline is an important starting material for many chemical products, including the rigid foam component MDI. The product is mainly used to produce insulation materials for buildings and refrigeration equipment. Due to the global trend towards sustainability and climate neutrality, the global MDI market is expected to grow by around six per cent per year in the medium term. Given the current high electricity and gas prices, especially in Europe, demand for efficient insulation is likely to increase further.
“With the expansion of our aniline production, we are addressing the further increase in demand from our customers for energy-efficient solutions for the insulation of buildings and refrigeration appliances. At the same time, by using state-of-the-art technology, we are increasing the energy efficiency of production and thereby the competitiveness of the Antwerp site,” says Dr Klaus Schäfer, Chief Technology Officer at Covestro.
An important milestone for the site
Dr Georg Wagner, Covestro Site Manager in Antwerp, sees the investment as a crucial step into the future: “The groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of our aniline production is an important moment for our site. The capacity expansion will enable us to continue to ensure the sustainable and efficient supply of our MDI network in Europe. In doing so, we will continue to draw on the attractive infrastructure and logistics at the heart of the port, from where we also have direct access to the raw materials we need. This investment further anchors us here in Antwerp and creates sustainable future jobs.”
The new plant will use state-of-the-art technologies that will help to significantly increase the energy efficiency of production in Antwerp. Currently, around 20 per cent of the steam required on site is covered by using process heat generated during production. The remaining steam is generated using fossil resources. With the commissioning of the new plant, the share of steam generated from process heat will double to 40 per cent of local demand, and the use of fossil fuels will decline. The potential savings correspond to up to 27,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. Thus, the new plant makes an important contribution to Covestro’s operationally climate-neutral goal by 2035.
The expansion of aniline production is part of Covestro’s global MDI strategy. The aim is to strengthen the production network for MDI given a further increase in demand.