Production Sites and R&D Sites
Covestro operates production and research and development (R&D) sites for various product groups throughout the world. The following chart shows the geographical distribution of Covestro’s 50 production sites and 13 R&D sites in the EMLA, NA, and APAC regions.
Covestro’s production and R&D sites
1NA: North America region (Canada, Mexico, United States).
2EMLA: Europe, Middle East, Latin America (excluding Mexico), Africa region.
3APAC: Asia and Pacific region.
In pursuit of our objective to supply customers reliably and efficiently, we make the Performance Materials segment’s products at large-capacity production facilities in the respective regions. Additional plants in selected countries manufacture polyurethane precursors and products for the Solutions & Specialties segment. Moreover, we operate production plants in certain countries for customer-specific compounding of polycarbonate resins.
Thanks to the integration of upstream production stages (backward integration), e.g., in its own production of chlorine, Covestro has continually optimized the value chain. In addition, Covestro has put in place wide-ranging programs and initiatives to achieve and steadily improve performance in the areas of safety, costs, and plant availability.
We invest continuously in our global production network in order to maintain our production sites and their infrastructure, to optimize manufacturing processes, and to expand capacities in line with market developments. To do so, Covestro relies on advanced and environmentally friendly production processes and continually optimizes its technologies. Key growth projects in the year 2022 included the new production line for prepolymers of the Desmodur® 15 product group in Barcelona (Spain) and precursors of the Vulkollan® product group in Map Ta Phut (Thailand).
Covestro primarily conducts research and development at three major centers in Germany, the United States, and China. Customer-oriented applications are generally developed in the relevant regions, while global, fundamental research and technology development are mainly conducted in Germany. Our global presence allows us to respond to regional trends and customer requirements in the best possible ways.