According to the China Chemical Fiber report, in the year of 2016, China nylon 66 chip market will see development of three plants, joining in or expanding original capacity, enlarging total domestic nylon 66 chip capacity to 505kta, significantly up 74 per cent year on year. There would be a rising competition in China among the four major producers, Shenma, Huafon, Xingjia (including Anshan Guorui), and Huayang. In March 2014, Invista entered the market with the construction of a new 150kta hexamethylene diamine (HMD) plant and a 150kta nylon 66 polymer plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Shanghai, China.
Invista has announced plans to add a 300kta adiponitrile (ADN) plant at the site in future using its proprietary technology, and would supply to its downstream HMD production in the future. The three plants would be located adjacent to each other. The HMD plant is expected to start commercial production in early 2016, followed by its nylon 66 polymer production in May 2016. In the year of 2016, apart from Invista, nylon 66 chip plants, integrated with both HMD and polymer production, are only two, Shenma and Xingjia (including Anshan Guorui).
In 2015, Shenma has close-to half of China’s nylon 66 chip production capacity, followed by Huafon (28 per cent), Xingjia (17 per cent) and Huayang (7 per cent). The pattern will be changed in 2016, as Invista will be the largest nylon 66 chip producer in China, taking a proportion of 29 per cent, followed by Shenma (28 per cent), Xingjia (20 per cent), Huafon (16 per cent), and Huayang (7 per cent). However, with 74 per cent capacity increase in 2016, the actual growth in supply (import and domestic production) will be much smaller.
Invista will not only supply nylon 66 chip polymer (150kta) but also HMD (215kta) to China. The consumption of HMD is 0.45mt for per metric ton production of nylon 66 chip, theoretically using 67.5kt HMD, and the rest will be supplied to other polymer producers, Huafon and Huayang. It will be much cheaper than import raw materials with saved tariff and transportation fees. Therefore, the cost edges, originally enjoyed by only two integrated plants, Shenma and Xingjia, will also be shared by Huafon and Huayang.
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