Plastics News Show Daily - April 5, 2012 - (Page 23)
PLASTICS NEWS, April 5, 2012 23
Invista exhibits new nylon resin grade
Torzen Marathon benefits include improved temperature range, process window, flow
By Frank Esposito
PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
ORLANDO, FLA. — Materials maker
Invista (Booth 25016) unveiled
a new grade of its Torzen-brand
nylon 6/6 resin at NPE2012, and
officials also commented on potential
U.S. expansion plans.
The new material is being marketed
as Torzen Marathon, and it
aims to fill the gap between stan-
dard nylon 6/6 grades and highertemperature
nylons, engineering
polymers executive vice president
Kurt Burmeister said during
a press event.
“There was a need for an improved
temperature range,” he
added. Torzen Marathon “can
withstand high temperatures better
than other types of nylon 6/6.
It broadens the process window
and gives 40-50 percent improvement
in flow.”
Cooperation pact
Cao Jian, executive vice president of the China Plastics Processing
Industry Association, and SPI President and CEO Bill Carteaux
shake hands after signing a five-year memorandum of understanding
between the two trade groups April 2 at NPE. The groups agreed to
promote mutual membership, strengthen cooperation in the area of
sustainability, energy saving and clean energy, among other tasks.
Burmeister also said customers
can use Torzen Marathon with
tools that already have been cut
for existing grades of nylon 6/6.
The material now is being sampled
by several customers for applications
in the automotive and
electrical/electronic sectors.
Wichita, Kan.-based Invista
also is looking at expansion plans
in the southeastern United States,
where it already operates plants
in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Camden,
S.C. Burmeister said expansion
could take the form of additional
capacity at an existing site
or through an acquisition.
He added that Invista — which
claims to be the world’s largest
nylon 6/6 maker — also is looking
at potential acquisitions in Europe.
The firm already has existing
or contract manufacturing
there in France, Germany, the
Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Burmeister declined to provide
specifics, but he said that since
2009, Invista has increased its
number of employees, expanded
its product portfolio and grown
its customer base.
“We’re working with compounders
around the world and
increasing in-house capacity as
well,” he said.
In the overall nylon 6/6 market,
Burmeister said that global demand
growth should range from
2-4 percent for the next few years.
North America also is seeing a
growing advantage in the form of
an energy advantage from new
natural gas discoveries and a potential
labor cost advantage in
Mexico vs. China.
A Chinese plant also is in the
works for Invista in Shanghai,
where the firm will make nylon
6/6 intermediates and resins. A
groundbreaking for the new plant
is expected in early 2013. Plans
for the plant originally were announced
in 2007, but it was delayed
by a slowdown in the global
economy.
Invista is owned by manufacturing
conglomerate Koch Industries
Inc. of Wichita. The firm exited
the commodity PET business
in 2010 when it sold its production
units to Indorama Ventures
Public Co. Ltd.
Later that year, Invista settled
three lawsuits with DuPont Co.
covering polymer technology,
adiponitrile feedstock technology
and disputes related to supply
agreements.
The disputes dated back to
2004, when Koch Industries
bought the Invista fibers business
from Wilmington, Del.-based
DuPont.
At NPE2012, Burmeister said
that Inivista no longer has any
production restrictions on its materials.
Courtesy of Oscar Einzig
http://www.iqms.com
http://www.whcorp.com
http://www.whcorp.com
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