Covestro's German TDI plant maintenance plan has been postponed!

Covestro postponed the maintenance work of the 2.7 million tons/year toluene diisocyanate (TDI) plant in Dormagen, Germany, to mid-May.

In October 2020, after BASF’s 300,000 tons/year TDI plant in Ludwigshafen constituted force majeure, Covestro’s 2.7 million tons/year TDI plant turnover will also follow closely, resulting in The impact of the short-term supply shortage of TDI in the European market.

Significant final product containing TDI

As the production of the two largest toluene diisocyanate (TDI) producers in Europe is still disrupted, downstream customers in the aerospace and automotive industries (relying on the chemical material for various end applications) have faced higher prices in recent weeks. The order was cancelled. As German chemical manufacturers BASF and Covestro both declared force majeure on the supply of TDI in the past two months, supply shortages may continue until the end of this year, which may result in particularly low inventories.

TDI is a key ingredient for manufacturers

Since September 2020, the European TDI market has been mainly affected by two incidents, which reduced production by as much as 70%. First of all, due to technical problems, chemical manufacturer BASF announced in early September that force majeure had occurred at its plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Subsequently, polymer manufacturer Covestro announced another force majeure statement due to a pump failure at its Dormagen plant in Germany. The two affected TDI units account for the majority of European supply, each with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons. Other companies in Europe include BorsodChem, which operates factories in Hungary, and the Vencorex factory in Point-de-Claix, France.

TDI is mainly used in the production of flexible polyurethane foam for bedding and packaging applications, as well as automotive and aircraft seats. When used in polyurethane elastomers, the final applications can also include automobile bumper covers and dashboards, industrial rollers, shoe soles, and various mechanical products.

European TDI production restrictions have begun to spread in the downstream supply chain. Some foam producers are facing delays in raw material orders, and in some cases even cancelled customer orders. Despite the high demand for foam-based products, some manufacturers may be forced to adjust their production schedules in the coming months if the supply shortage increases. After BASF’s Ludwigshafen reported production problems, similar TDI shortages in 2016 and 2017 caused a small number of polyurethane foam producers to temporarily stop production. Highlighting the seriousness of the current situation is that the price of TDI rose in Europe for the fourth consecutive month in October and has reached the highest level in 2018.