Bayer to build plant to tap need

German chemicals maker Bayer said yesterday that it will build a new coating raw material HDI plant in Shanghai to meet demand from automakers to footwear producers.

The new 50,000-ton-per-year hexamethylene diicyanate (HDI) plant will add to Bayer's existing factory producing 30,000 tons annually at its manufacturing site in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, which boasts one of the largest HDI capacities worldwide by 2016.

"We simply need the volume," said Daniel Meyer, head of the coatings, adhesives and specialties unit under Bayer MaterialScience, citing strong demand from China's automobile, textile, construction and consumer electronics industries.

The market for HDI is about 200,000 tons annually worldwide, and it is growing by 15,000-20,000 tons per year, Meyer said in Shanghai.

The HDI expansion project is part of Bayer's 1-billion-euro (US$1.38 billion) investment commitment, announced in 2010, in its Shanghai site.