Covestro Reaffirms Strategic Shift Toward Circular Economy
Covestro AG, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and components, is strengthening its transformation journey through market adjustments that position it for long-term sustainable growth. At its 2025 Annual General Meeting, held virtually and streamed live, shareholders voted in favor of every resolution and re-elected five members to the Supervisory Board for the strategic vision.
Dr Markus Steilemann, CEO, Covestro, went on to emphasize its strategy on four key action areas: the ongoing transformation, sustainable growth, digitalization & innovation, and the systematic implementation of ambitious sustainability targets. “Despite the challenging conditions in the chemical industry, we leveraged our strong foundation and unswervingly implemented the transformation of our company to the circular economy,” he explained. “We are now even more agile, leaner, and more targeted in our approach. Our ways of working and our processes are being comprehensively rethought.”
Covestro plans to reduce annual costs by €400 million throughout 2028 as it concentrates on material innovation, production capacity expansion, and furthering recycling capabilities. The company aims to strengthen its future objectives through its key alliance with XRG, which is expected to culminate in the second half of 2025.
The company experienced a 1.4 percent reduced revenue of €14.2 billion in 2024 owing to the increasing global production levels combined with decreasing selling prices. This year the company followed its dividend policy by withholding dividend payments because of its performance results. However, financial constraints have not deterred the company from pursuing its carbon neutrality objectives, which include reaching Scope 1 and Scope 2 neutrality by 2035 as well as Scope 3 by 2050.
Image Source: Covestro