Royal DSM NV is doubling the size of its engineering plastics compounding operation near Shanghai to take advantage of growth in the electronics, automotive and consumer products markets, and plans to build a nylon 6 resin plant.
The company has built a facility next to its site in Jiangyin, China, giving Royal DSM about 66 million pounds of annual capacity for its Stanyl polyamide 46, Akulon polyamide 6 and Arnite polybutylene terephthalate. The site was opened recently.
Officials of the Heerlen, Netherlands-based firm declined to disclose the investment or employment at the facility.
The company's electronics markets are growing particularly fast, as its products take market share from metals and other materials, said company spokesman Dries Ausems.
And on the heels of the compounding plant expansion, DSM Engineering Plastics is looking at building a nylon 6 resin plant in the area. DSM EP said it may add nylon resin capability in Nanjing, China, because its parent recently expanded its facility there to make nylon feedstock caprolactum.
``We are presently spending quite a sum of money'' on studying whether to build the nylon plant, said DSM EP President Jos H.M. Goessens at the Chinaplas trade show, held April 26-29 in Shanghai. ``We will take the final decision later this year.''
The company, which also makes polybutylene terephthalate, PET and other resins, is not looking at building other polymer plants in China, said Roelof Westerbeek, president of Shanghai-based DSM EP Asia Pacific.
Goessens said demand for engineering resin is growing about 20 percent a year in China, and he said the company has been able to maintain its margins and pass on most of the increase in raw materials to its customers.
