Covestro announced on 30 June 2026 that it plans to invest in a new world-scale MDI train at its Integrated Site in Shanghai, adding 660 kilotonnes of annual capacity with start-up targeted for the end of the decade. The train will use the company's proprietary MDI AdiP technology and is designed to operate with net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions. In the same announcement, Covestro said it is conducting a feasibility study for a plant of similar scale at Al Ruwais Industrial City in the United Arab Emirates, run with TA'ZIZ and Fertiglobe and with XRG as strategic investor. No investment amount was disclosed for either project, and the UAE plant remains a study rather than a sanctioned build.
The Shanghai figure is the firm one. The release specifies a new MDI production train with 660 kilotonnes of annual capacity at the Covestro Integrated Site Shanghai, built on the company's proprietary MDI AdiP process, with start-up targeted for the end of the decade, and states that the train is designed to operate with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions on Scope 1 and Scope 2. It also names the end-uses the capacity is intended to serve: rigid polyurethane foam for building and construction insulation, appliances tied to food chain efficiency, and sports and lifestyle applications. No capital figure was published.
The Gulf leg is deliberately vaguer. Covestro states only that it is conducting a feasibility study for a plant of similar scale in the United Arab Emirates, and gives no UAE tonnage of its own; the study is being run at Al Ruwais Industrial City with TA'ZIZ and Fertiglobe, with XRG as strategic investor on both projects, and is described as assessing technical, commercial and economic viability, with no investment decision taken. GCC Business News, reporting the same announcement on 30 June, put the proposed Ruwais plant at up to 660,000 tonnes per annum; Chemical Processing, writing on 3 July, confirmed the 660,000 t/y figure for Shanghai but gave no tonnage for the UAE site. Until a final investment decision is taken, the Ruwais capacity is best read as a press estimate rather than a company number.
On the strategic framing, Covestro chief executive Markus Steilemann said: "This investment program is a clear commitment to our customers and to our long-term growth in the MDI market. We see strong and sustained demand, and at the same time increasing requirements for supply reliability." TA'ZIZ chief executive Mashal Saoud Al-Kindi, quoted by GCC Business News, framed the UAE side in localisation terms: "MDI is a strategically important chemical that supports high-growth sectors including construction, automotive, and advanced materials, representing a clear opportunity to localize production within the UAE." For scale, Covestro reported sales of EUR 12.9 billion in fiscal year 2025 and employed approximately 17,600 people at the end of that year.
For anyone buying or formulating two-component rigid systems, the horizon here is long. Both projects point to the end of the decade at the earliest, so neither changes isocyanate availability or pricing in 2026; what they change is where the supply base will sit in five to ten years. A world-scale MDI plant inside the Gulf would be the first of its kind in the region and would rework freight, lead time and landed-cost arithmetic for buyers in Türkiye and the Middle East, but it is a study, not a project. The more usable signal today is the demand Covestro is underwriting: insulation and appliance-linked cold chain are named first among the applications the new capacity is being built for.