On January 30th, Covestro announced the successful completion of a major capacity expansion at its Shanghai integrated site for Toluene Diisocyanate (TDI) production. The upgrade has increased the annual TDI production capacity from 310,000 tons to 370,000 tons, a nearly 20% increase.
Located in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, Covestro's Shanghai integrated site is the company's largest global production base. This capacity expansion was not achieved by constructing new production lines, but rather by optimizing existing processes and infrastructure.
Notably, over the past two years, Covestro has continuously worked to enhance its competitiveness in the TDI sector. In March of last year, the company's Dormagen TDI plant underwent a modernization project. This plant is Covestro's largest TDI production facility in Europe, with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons. The core focus of this upgrade was to implement energy recycling measures. As a result, the plant’s energy consumption has been reduced by 80% compared to traditional processes, which has also led to a reduction of 22,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually. This upgrade strengthens Covestro's market position in a time of rising energy costs and also provides customers with TDI products that have a lower carbon footprint.
In early 2026, the global TDI market experienced a significant supply contraction. By January, the total volume of TDI unit shutdowns and maintenance worldwide reached 860,000 tons, accounting for 24% of the global total production capacity.
This included temporary shutdowns at major facilities such as Hanwha and Wanhua in South Korea, and Wanhua's Xinjiang plant, in addition to ongoing maintenance and fluctuations at Covestro’s Shanghai facility and Wanhua’s Fujian site. As a result, the global TDI supply gap continued to widen.
According to market sources, from January 12th to 22nd, Wanhua Chemical's TDI distribution channel in China had a fixed price of 15,200 yuan per ton. Due to the ongoing shutdowns at the Northwest plants, there was no supply from this region in the second half of January. Meanwhile, TDI prices in Shanghai were adjusted to 14,400 yuan per ton, with limited supply due to tight inventory.
In 2025, China reached a historic high in TDI exports, with a total of 556,500 tons exported. In contrast, China imported around 3,400 tons of TDI during the same year.
In December 2025, China exported approximately 50,200 tons of TDI, while imports were about 140 tons. In November 2025, China saw its highest-ever single-month export of TDI, reaching 56,500 tons, with imports of around 460 tons.
