AdvanSix Inc. is ending nylon film production at its site in Pottsville, Pa.
The closure of the site will be completed in the third quarter. About 85 jobs will be eliminated in the move, a spokeswoman with Parsippany, N.J.-based AdvanSix said in an email to Plastics News. The site made biaxially oriented nylon film used in food packaging and other applications.
AdvanSix now will supply customers with nylon film through a partnership with Lurin, Peru-based Oben Group.
In a May 3 earnings release, AdvanSix President and CEO Erin Kane said these moves "best position us for success in the nylon films industry." She also thanked the Pottsville staff for its "hard work and dedication."
Market sources said that Honeywell International Inc., which spun off AdvanSix as a separate firm in 2016, will continue to make fluoropolymer films in Pottsville.
In a blog post, Montesino Associates LLC Managing Director Peter Schmitt said that AdvanSix and its predecessor firms — including Allied Chemical, Allied Signal and Honeywell — had been extruding nylon and other materials at the Pottsville site since 1961. But higher prices and industry competition in recent years have made it more difficult for resin makers to profit from downstream operations.
"While raw material prices trended ever higher, film processing margins decreased," Schmitt said.
AdvanSix ranks as one of the world's largest makers of nylon 6. The firm posted sales of just over $1.5 billion in 2018.
