Bayer MaterialScience AG coating systems will be used on another high-profile Olympic games venue in Beijing — on the immense tangle of steel known as the “Bird's Nest.”
This is the second of BMS' Beijing Olympics contracts, and part of the Leverkusen, Germany-based company's countrywide push to boost sales of its waterborne coatings. In addition to the Bird's Nest, BMS also has taken on Beijing's “Water Cube,” a large, opaque building near the city center that is covered in copolymer ethylene tetrafluoroethylene film.
The coating systems rely on water as a solvent to disperse the coating resin. China's heightened focus on environmental products, and its desire to hold a “green” Olympics in August, has increased demand for such materials, which release fewer volatile organic chemicals leading to the formation of greenhouse gases.
“Emissions reduction and energy efficiency are two important objectives of the Chinese government,” said Michael König, President of Bayer Group Greater China and of Bayer MaterialScience China.
At China's National Aquatics Center, Bayer is providing 7,233 square feet of coating in the “Bubble Bar” area. The coating systems use materials that include Bayer's Desmodur and Desmophen, which provide cushioning, sound absorption, cracking bridging and abrasion and impact resistance, according to the company.
Bayer is expanding capacity for such materials at its Shanghai site to accommodate the projects and other markets in China. Bayer also contributed coating to Shanghai's Lupu Bridge.
BMS' coatings, adhesives and sealants unit is also ramping up production capabilities with an integrated plant in Shanghai. The new facility will have capacity of 44 million pounds a year and is scheduled to come on stream in the second quarter.
“China is one of the key markets for Bayer MaterialScience,” said Volker Mirgel, BMS senior vice president of the coatings, adhesives and sealants business for the Asia-Pacific region. “The expansions of our production capacity will enable Bayer MaterialScience to offer reliable and long-term supply to its customers in the region and to keep pace with local market growth.”
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