(Yicai Global) June 17 -- American chemicals giant Invista has begun construction of a new CNY7 billion (USD1 billion) plant in Shanghai designed to produce adiponitrile, a raw material used in the production of Nylon 66.

The facility will be capable of producing 400,000 tons of adiponitrile when it opens in 2022, the Kansas-based firm said in a statement yesterday. It will be the company’s biggest single investment ever, according to the Shanghai Observer.

China consumed about 295,000 tons of adiponitrile in 2018, according to publicly available industry data, but the country relies on imports to fulfill demand. China National Chemical Engineering has also spotted that market gap, and last August one of its subsidiaries broke ground on an adiponitrile plant it plans to open in 2022 with an annual output of 200,000 tons.

Invista will integrate the new plant with a downstream project in Shanghai that began operations in 2016 and includes a Nylon 66 factory. The end result will be the world’s largest integrated nylon production facility, Kyle Redinger, vice president of Invista Nylon Intermediates Asia Pacific, said in the statement.

Nylon 66  is a lightweight, heat-resistant and durable material used in the auto, electronic and electrical sectors.

The Shanghai factory will be Invista’s fourth adiponitrile production base worldwide, and the company is expanding the capacity of its plants in the US and France, expecting to add about 200,000 tons a year to their combined output. 

Invista is also extending its Shanghai factory making polymers for Nylon 66, with plans to boost capacity to 190,000 tons a year by the end of 2020, up from 150,000 tons now.

Editor: James Boynton