Covestro is considering expanding its polycarbonate business, choosing to increase production in China, and will likely add significant capacity to unspecified plants over the next four years.
Philipp Polenz, head of the polycarbonate business unit in North America in Covestro, said the investments were designed to meet the growth in demand for the main growth end markets (mobile tools, electrical and electronic (E&E), medical and consumer products, etc.).
At China's Cao Jing plant, Covestro is considering an annual increase of 50,000 tonnes (ktpa) per year from 2020 to 2022, increasing the plant's total capacity to 150,000 tonnes a year. "In addition, we plan to increase our capacity by 130,000 tonnes by 2022," Polenz said in an interview before the German plastics industry trade Fair (Fakuma).
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According to Polenz, these expansions are based on the development trend of polycarbonate demand, and according to Covestro, the demand for polycarbonate is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 4% over the next five years.
For Covestro, a chemical supplier headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, global trends such as population growth, urbanization, climate change, energy demand, liquidity growth and digitalization are key growth drivers.
Polenz noted that trends such as electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous vehicles (AV) could accelerate demand growth.
Polycarbonate Functional Plastics Solutions play a ' vital role ' in the new ev/av trend by ensuring economic, safe and personalised integration, according to Covestro's official.
These include futuristic ideas such as new round-glass windows, dome-like roofs that provide passengers with a 360-degree barrier-free view, or a seamless car front-end module that integrates sensors and antennas into body parts of autonomous vehicles. Another theme for future mobility tools is the integration of battery cells from lithium-ion batteries.
In order to accurately place a large number of cells in a small space, the battery holder and the battery frame as well as the housing assembly must have very large dimensional stability and mechanical robustness.
To achieve this goal, the company has developed a variety of polycarbonate blends that meet these requirements and have extremely high impact resistance over a wide temperature range, especially at zero temperatures.
At the German plastics industry trade Fair (Fakuma), the company showcased a variety of covestro materials solutions for battery modules, battery holders, collision absorbers and other products.
However, this new automotive concept will require new regulations, such as new standards for the use of technology, processes or materials.
Polenz For example, for autonomous driving, it is necessary to clarify how the communication between autonomous vehicles and pedestrians should be carried out. The Covestro executive said: ' People will wait at the crosswalk because they don't know if they can cross the road safely.
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However, as far as polycarbonate is concerned, Covestro assures its customers and automotive OEMs that this material can break through many boundaries.
In addition to polycarbonate, the demand for Covestro's recently upgraded continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites (CFRTP) technology has increased.
This demand is largely driven by the trend of global lightweighting Solutions, CFRTP Composites provide solid and lightweight materials. Polenz explains: ' We use continuous carbon fiber or fiberglass impregnated with polycarbonate, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) or other thermoplastic resins to manufacture unidirectional reinforcing tapes and sheets at the production site in the Markt Bibart in southern Germany.
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Sturdy, lightweight and beautiful materials can be combined into a variety of products, providing designers with a new creative space. Three years ago, Covestro in the southeastern German Markt Bibart acquired the TCG of the start-up composites manufacturer, thereby enhancing its CFRTP business.
Since then, the company has expanded the production of continuous reinforced composites to open commercial levels.
The company launched the thermoplastic composites brand Maezio in August, calling it ' accelerating the popularization of composites '. Polenz pointed out: ' Thermoplastic can be used for mass production by using existing thermoplastic tools for hot-press molding at high yield and low cycle times.
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Polenz said the company was ' full of confidence ' in the future of the material because of its strong interest in the application of the materials in various fields such as electrical and electronic, automotive, medical and sports. He said: ' The scope of application is very wide, and our products can be exposed to consumer life in a very wide variety of ways.
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Another area discovered in recent years is the digital world.
Covestro launched its integrated Digital Digital@covestro project last year, focusing on the three themes of digital operations, digital customer experience and digital business models.
In the field of digital operation, the cost efficiency of the company's own technology process has been improved, mainly in the production.
The digital customer experience opens up new digital channels to connect with customers, and the digital business model is aimed at new business models, such as the online trading platform for standard products. Covestro is considering expanding its polycarbonate business