Invista has announced plans to add 40,000 t/y of PA 6.6 polymerization capacity at its plant in Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP). The Chinese investment will lift output at the site to 190,000 t/y by 2020.

The US polyamide giant headquartered at Wichita, Kansas, already operates a plant for hexamethylenediamine (HMD) at the Shanghai site, producing 215,000 t/y of the feedstock. It is also expected to locate its recently announced adiponitrile (ADN) production facility with capacity of at least 300,000 t/y in the vast chemical park.

Elsewhere, Invista is retrofitting ADN technology at Butachimie, its joint venture with Solvay in France, up to 2019 and is also investing in the nylon feedstock at Victoria, Texas in the US.

Construction is on the PA 6.6 upgrade is due to begin in mid-2019. Invista calculates that it has invested more than $1 billion in its polyamide chain over the past five years. It plans to invest a similar sum going forward, while continuing to evaluate the market for future opportunities, said Pat Brown, vice president of nylon polymer.