Covestro Expands TDI Production Capacity by 20% at Shanghai Base

On January 30, Covestro announced the completion of a major capacity expansion and upgrade project for its toluene diisocyanate (TDI) production facility at its integrated site in Shanghai. This upgrade significantly increases the annual TDI production capacity from 310,000 tons to 370,000 tons, an increase of nearly 20%.

Covestro Integrated Site Shanghai, located in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, is the company's largest production site worldwide. This capacity expansion and upgrade project does not involve building new production lines, but rather increasing production capacity by optimizing existing production processes and infrastructure.

It is worth mentioning that Covestro has been continuously enhancing its competitiveness in the TDI field in the past two years.

Last March, Covestro's Dormagen TDI plant completed its modernization. The plant is Covestro's largest TDI production facility in Europe, with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons.

It is reported that the core of the transformation lies in achieving energy recycling. After the transformation, energy consumption will be reduced by 80% compared with traditional processes, and CO2 emissions will be reduced by 22,000 tons/year, strengthening Covestro's market position in the face of high energy costs and providing customers with TDI products with a lower carbon footprint.

Supply tightened at the beginning of the year

In early 2026, the global TDI market experienced a concentrated supply contraction. In January, the total volume of global TDI plant shutdowns for maintenance reached 860,000 tons, accounting for 24% of the total global capacity. Specifically, Hanwha in South Korea and Wanhua Xinjiang successively announced temporary plant shutdowns. Coupled with previous maintenance and abnormal fluctuations at major plants such as Covestro Shanghai and Wanhua Fujian, the global TDI supply gap continued to expand.

According to market news, from January 12th to 22nd, Wanhua Chemical's TDI distribution channel's fixed price for the second ten days of January is 15,200 yuan/ton. Additionally, due to the continuous shutdown of a plant in Northwest China, there will be no supply from the Northwest region in the second ten days. A major plant in Shanghai has adjusted its TDI price to 14,400 yuan/ton, with tight supply and limited sales.

Import and Export

In 2025, China's TDI exports hit a record high, reaching a total export volume of 556,500 tons. In terms of imports, China's cumulative TDI imports in 2025 were approximately 3,400 tons.

In December 2025, China's TDI exports were approximately 50,200 tons, and imports were around 140 tons. In November 2025, China's TDI exports reached 56,500 tons, setting a new historical high for single-month exports, while imports were approximately 460 tons.

China's TDI Import and Export Situation from January to October 2025, and a Comparison with 2024 Export Data.