SHANGHAI—Bayer MaterialScience broke ground on its new 50kT/year hexamethylene diisocyanate facility at Bayer Integrated Site Shanghai on March 24. The plant is expected to be completed in 2016 as one of the largest facilities in the world.
The company's first HDI plant in Shanghai was opened in 2007 with a 30kT/year capacity. BMS claims its improved gas-phase phosgenation technology makes the new facility more environment-friendly, more energy efficient and able to yield products with higher purity and more consistent quality.
Tony Van Osselaer, head of industrial operations at BMS, said during the next few years BISS will be using $1.4 billion worth of raw materials, two thirds of which will come from internal and external facilities in the local area. The majority of the additional HDI capacity in the pipeline is also planned for local consumption.
“We are in the region for the region,” said Dr. Osselaer. “Today only 6 percent of our HDI products are shipped inter-regionally between the APAC, NAFTA and EMEA areas.”
Capacity expansion projects at BISS have received $690.1 million investment so far with another $690.1 million earmarked for the future.
“HDI is only our first step for infrastructure expansion,” said Daniel Meyer, head of the Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties Business Unit at BMS. “We are also very committed to another IPDI project and are likely to make an announcement at the end of this year.”