US INVISTA to close adipic acid plant in Texas

HOUSTON (ICIS)–INVISTA is shutting down its adipic acid plant in Orange, Texas, as part of restructuring efforts at the site, the US nylon 6,6 and intermediates producer confirmed on Tuesday.

“The decision to shut down the adipic acid unit was driven by lower adipic acid demand in North America and increased supply in the global adipic acid market,” said Bill Greenfield, president of INVISTA Intermediates.

INVISTA said the restructuring of the site is so it “can more rapidly respond to the ever-changing global marketplace that it serves”, and this will result in a workforce reduction of 75 or more employees at the site.

The company will continue to produce adipic acid at its Victoria site in Texas, and representatives are communicating with customers on specific impacts that this could have on their supply.

INVISTA said it recently invested more than $100m at its Orange site to install and commercialise the company’s proprietary adiponitrile (ADN) technology, which was implemented at the site last year.

Adipic acid is produced from benzene via cyclohexane (CX) or phenol. Adipic acid’s main use is in the production of nylon 6,6 by combining it with hexamethylenediamine (HMD or HMDA), which is made from ADN via butadiene (BD) or propylene.

INVISTA’s adipic acid plant in Orange has a capacity of 220,000 tonnes/year, according to ICIS plants and projects.

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