Bayer to expand thermoplastic polyurethane capacity in Cuddalore

Germany-based Bayer MaterialScience plans to increase thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) production capacities in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, to meet the continued growth in demand for TPU. With the addition of a second TPU production line, which expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2015, the annual capacity of Cuddalore site will increase to 6,000 metric tonnes from its current capacity of 2,500 metric tons.
 
Marius Wirtz, Head of TPU Business at Bayer Materialscience, said “As the only local TPU producer, BMS has been commited to the development of the Indian TPU market for over 18 years. The planned increase of our local capacity is an important milestone to continuously support our customer’s growth with custom-made TPUs in high quality and with short lead times.”
 
Ajay Durrani, Managing Director and Senior Country Representative - Indian Subcontinent, Bayer MaterialScience Pvt Ltd, added, “Bayer MaterialScience continues to see strong growth opportunities in India across all business units.  There is considerable demand in the Indian market for TPUs which is driven by an increasing appetite for high-quality end products. With this, we are convinced that the Indian market has strong fundamentals to utilise the scale of investments in TPU.”
 
TPU is used in a wide range of industry segments and applications such as automotive, textile, shoe, castor wheel, cable sheathing, pneumatic tubing, solution coatings and adhesives. The company is the local market leader and offers a wide range of innovative TPUs from both Bayer’s local and global TPU portfolio.

The Cuddalore site supplies TPU under Bayer’s tradename Desmopan to the Indian market as well as to customers in Europe. The company has recently received Environmental Clearance from the Ministry of Environment which is supplemented by a permit from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).