Covestro to close MDI plant in Spain, turn site into chem park

摘要

Covestro (Leverkusen) says it intends to close a 170,000-m.t./year methylene di-para-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) plant at Tarragona, Spain, by the end of 2017 and transform the site into a chemical park. The facility accounts for 30% of Covestro's MDI capacity in Europe, the Mideast, and Asia and 12% of the company's worldwide capacity. Covestro's supervisory board approved the closure at a meeting on 4 December. The decision followed a detailed site analysis, which concludes, in the long term, the facility could no longer competitively produce MDI because the company cannot guarantee a competitive future supply of chlorine to the site. The plant currently receives chlorine from an on-site partner. The closure could result in 120 job losses.