Nylon expansions: BASF to expand HMD and PA6.6 in Europe; Ascend to build HMD and speciality chemicals plant in China

German chemicals firm BASF has decided to build a new hexamethylene diamine (HMD) plant in Chalampé, France. The new plant is set to increase BASF’s annual HMD production capacity to 260,000 tonnes. Production is expected to start in 2024. Furthermore, BASF will expand its polyamide (PA) 6.6 production in Freiburg, Germany starting 2022. It did not indicate the capacity expansion.

The planned investments will further expand the PA6.6 business that BASF acquired from Solvay in 2020. “With this new HMD plant in Chalampé and the expansion of the polymerisation in Freiburg, BASF ensures that customers can be reliably supplied with HMD and PA6.6, while also addressing increasing demand in the market,” said Dr. Ramkumar Dhruva, President of BASF’s Monomers division.

HMD is a precursor used in the production of high-quality PA6.6 plastics and coating raw materials. Among other things, these products are used in the automotive industry as well as in the production of special fibres.

Meanwhile in other related news, US nylon maker Ascend Performance Materials has also signed an investment agreement to construct a new HMD and specialty chemicals plant in Lianyungang, China in the Xuwei New Area Park. The new plant will be Ascend’s first chemical production facility and the largest investment the company has made outside of the US, it added.

The plant will produce HMD and specialty chemicals to supply Ascend’s global PA production and serve its regional customers.

“Our growth is driven by increasing market demand and growing collaboration with our customers globally,” said Phil McDivitt, Ascend’s President/CEO. “The materials we produce are helping drive technological transformations across markets, from e-mobility to automation. Our new HMD plant positions us to continue supporting these transformations well into the future.”

Ascend, a fully integrated producer of durable engineered materials, serves a variety of sectors including automotive, paints and coatings, electrical and electronics, consumer goods, and cable ties and fasteners.

“China and Asia remain high-growth markets for us,” said Dr. Kevin Wu, Ascend’s Senior Vice-President/Managing Director for Asia. “This new plant is a symbol of our growth in the region and the partnerships we have developed. We thank the Xuwei New Area Park administrators and the officials in Lianyungang for their partnership in this project.”

Ascend signed a memorandum of understanding in November 2020 during CIIE in Shanghai with Xuwei New Area Park, witnessed by the leaders of Jiangsu Province and Lianyungang.

Ascend will begin construction later this year with a plant startup targeted for the second half of 2023.

The announcement of the new site construction follows a series of acquisitions and capacity expansions to enable regional growth and continued global supply security. In 2018, Ascend made its first acquisition in Tilburg, Netherlands, followed by acquisitions in Mozzate, Italy; Suzhou, China; and Fosses, France. Ascend will also complete an acquisition in San Jose Iturbide, Mexico and the construction of Ascend Asia Innovation Center later this year.

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