By Frank Esposito, Plastics News
Wichita, Kansas - Materials maker Invista has won approval from Chinese officials for a massive feedstock plant in Shanghai that could later include nylon 6/6 resin production.
Officials with Wichita-based Invista said in a 5 Jan news release that the project had won environmental approval from the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau. The plant will have annual capacity of almost 475 million lbs (215 456 tonnes) of hexamethylene diamine (HMD), a nylon precursor, according to the release.
HMD is also used to generate hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), a polyurethane monomer feedstock.
Invista spokeswoman Jodie Stutzman said 1 Feb that the project eventually could include between 220 million and 330 million lbs of annual capacity for nylon 6/6 resin and 660 million lbs of annual capacity for adiponitrile feedstock.
No final decision has been made on the nylon 6/6 and adiponitrile projects, Stutzman said. If all three materials are brought on, the cost of the project would be $1 billion. Construction on the HMD portion will begin later this year, with production starting in 2015. If adiponitrile is added, it will be available in 2018. No date for a nylon 6/6 start has been determined.
In the 5 Jan release, Invista Senior Vice President Steve Kromer said the new plant "will give Invista and its customers a significant advantage." The firm spent more than $100 million in Asia during 2012, including investing in an expansion of its nylon air-bag fiber plant in Shanghai.
Invista also invested in its nylon 6/6 business in late 2012 when it bought a compounding plant in Born, the Netherlands. Officials said it would be used to make compounds based on Invista's Torzen-brand nylon 6/6 resins. The firm is a global leader in production of nylon resin and feedstock, and produces specialty polyester resins.
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This article first appeared on our sister publication, Plastics News
