Expansions: Covestro expands capacity for Vulkollan in Thailand; Invista completes PA6.6 capacity expansion in China

German polymer firm Covestro has started construction of a new production plant for Vulkollan raw materials in the Map Ta Phut industrial zone in Thailand. The investment is in the high mid double-digit million euro range. Production at the new plant is scheduled to start at the end of 2022. It will employ a staff of more than 25 people. The product is mainly used where highest mechanical strength and abrasion resistance is required. Examples are wheels for forklift trucks as well as couplings and seals for the engineering industry.

"With this strategic investment, Covestro wants to further improve its infrastructure and customer proximity and strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific region," says Dr. Klaus Schäfer, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Covestro. "After expanding our capacities for polycarbonate films, we are now broadening the production spectrum at our Map Ta Phut site with a new investment project."

"With this additional production line, we are not only supporting our customers´ demand", explains Michael Friede, Head of the Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties segment, "we are also investing in the future global growth of applications and industries with high-end requirements."

"Due to its extremely high mechanical strength and dynamic load capacity, the elastomer is the engineering material of choice for demanding applications," explains Dr. Thomas Braig, Head of Elastomers. "In addition, its long-term functional reliability optimizes the total cost of ownership compared to other elastomers. This makes Vulkollan the perfect material not only in the material handling industry, but also for a growing number of engineering applications."

Meanwhile in other news, polymer firm Invista has completed a 40,000-tonne/year nylon 6,6 polymer capacity expansion at its polymer plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP). This addition brings the plant’s capacity to 190,000-tonne/year.

This expansion is Invista’s fourth continuous polymerisation line at SCIP where the company now has 30,000-tonne/year autoclaves and 160,000-tonne/year continuous process nylon 6,6 polymer capacity.

Pete Brown, Invista’s executive vice president, nylon polymer, added, “The additional polymer capacity is another key element of Invista’s integrated nylon 6,6 value chain at SCIP where we also have a 215,000-tonne/year hexamethylenediamine (HMD) plant and a 400,000-tonne/year adiponitrile (ADN) plant currently under construction.”

The ADN project at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park is being constructed by Invista Nylon Chemicals (China) Co. Ltd.. The project has received its final construction permit, which allows construction across the entire facility. Construction has been progressing well for several months in part of the plant and will now commence in the remaining areas.

“This new polymer capacity is part of Invista’s strategic investments to supply the strong local and regional demand for high-quality nylon products,” said Angela Dou, Invista’s Asia Pacific regional business director, nylon polymer. “We estimate China could become the world’s largest consumer of nylon 6,6 in the next few years—with many growth sectors, including an increased demand for engineering polymers used in automotive, electrical & engineering markets, such as light weighting, powertrain parts optimization, electrification, and automation.”

A subsidiary of Koch Industries since 2004, Invista brings to market the proprietary ingredients for nylon 6,6 and also offers specialty chemical intermediates and process technologies.

(PRA)

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