Covestro has opened its new Thermoplastic Polyurethanes (TPU) Application Development (AD) Center in Guangzhou, China, marking a significant milestone in implementing its strategy to bring innovation closer to customers across Asia-Pacific. The new AD Center complements Covestro’s soon-to-be largest global TPU production site in Zhuhai, China, which began operations earlier this year, and its existing regional R&D center in Changhua, Taiwan. Together, the three sites form an integrated network spanning R&D, application development, and large-scale manufacturing.

Covestro reports that the Asia-Pacific TPU market, particularly in South China, continues to see strong demand from fast-growing sectors such as consumer electronics, automotive, and specialty films. The Guangzhou AD Center strengthens the company’s ability to translate this demand into tailored material solutions through closer technical collaboration with customers.

“This new Application Development Center represents a strategic cornerstone in our global TPU strategy to grow in high-value and emerging segments in Asia-Pacific,” said Dr. Andrea Maier-Richter, global head of TPU at Covestro. “We will explore, pilot and upscale new application fields for TPU in robotics, healthcare and mobility solutions together with our customers — in close collaboration and at the heart of the market.”

Designed to help customers move faster, the new center’s processing simulation lines replicate real production conditions, enabling rapid formulation adjustments and material modification. These capabilities help reduce trial cycles, shorten time-to-market, and deliver solutions tailored to specific application needs.

A distinctive feature of the Guangzhou AD Center is its multi-business setup, with Engineering Plastics (EP) and Specialty Films (SF) teams co-located on the same site, enabling close collaboration and faster integration of capabilities. The EP unit brings compounding expertise and color competence, supporting in-house color matching for applications such as consumer electronics, footwear and paint protection films (PPF). The SF unit enables pilot production and finished product commissioning for high-performance films and other extrusion-based applications. This integrated approach brings together capabilities across business entities, creating added value for customers.

The Guangzhou AD Center is now open for customer and partner collaboration across Asia-Pacific, offering end-to-end customer support from initial material consultation to pilot production and troubleshooting. Learn more at covestro.com.