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17.97 Billion! Invista Expands Nylon Fiber Business

New Chemical Materials 2025-08-07 09:34:01

Global nylon giant INVISTA, after announcing on April 17 its final decision to retain its nylon fiber business, further announced on July 29 that, building on more than $2 billion invested over the past decade, it will invest an additional $500 million (a total of approximately 17.97 billion yuan) over the next five years in CORDURA.®Investments in the development of new business for the brand, marketing, and fiber and fabric innovation programs.

Image: CORDURA (Image source: INVISTA)

Originated from DuPont

INVISTA is a company mainly engaged in nylon fibers, resins, and intermediates, headquartered in Kansas, USA. Formerly known as DuPont Textiles and Interiors, it was spun off from DuPont’s textile fibers division in February 2003, initially registered under the name INVISTA. On April 30, 2004, it was sold for $4.2 billion to the privately held Koch Industries. Subsequently, Koch merged it with its own subsidiary KoSa to form INVISTA.

CORDURA® is a globally renowned high-strength fabric under INVISTA. It is made from jet-textured multifilament PA66 yarn, which offers high strength and stable bulkiness. This makes it suitable for producing durable and abrasion-resistant textiles. Additionally, the fabric can have an appearance similar to spun fiber products—soft, with bright and rich colors. It is widely used in military bulletproof vests, outdoor gear, luggage, footwear, apparel, and more.
The production process adopts a unique design: PA66 chips are processed into filaments through a screw extruder and spinneret, then treated by a jet bulking system. The product can flexibly adjust the filament fineness and total fineness according to the final use (such as fabric thickness and durability requirements).

Jet-texturized fibers are not only lightweight but also high in strength. Under the same conditions, CORDURA® is lighter than cotton and similar products, yet its abrasion resistance is 2.5 times that of cotton, 3 times that of regular nylon, and twice that of impact-resistant nylon. Its scratch resistance is at least 10 times that of leather; its puncture and tear resistance is twice that of leather and 5 times that of regular nylon. CORDURA® can be blended for use in everyday wear, but its content must be at least over 60% to ensure the excellent performance of the resulting fabric. Meanwhile, this type of material also boasts outstanding color fastness, supports multicolor dyeing, is resistant to mildew and moths, and is easy to wash and quick to dry.
Currently, manufacturers producing nylon fibers globally include Invista, Ascend (PA66), BASF (PA6/66 dual routes, leader in bio-based PA), Toray (PA6/bio-based PA510), Fujian Yongrong (PA6), Hengshen Holdings (including Meida/PA6), Casda Bio, Yipin Bio (bio-based PA56), Dongchen Ruisen, Shensma Co., Junma Chemical Fiber, Zhongwei Chemical Fiber, Huaian Nylon Chemical Fiber, and others.

Global Nylon Giant

In terms of upstream raw materials, Invista's "butadiene process" patent has established extremely high technical barriers, giving it dominant control over the global pricing of adiponitrile.

As of the end of 2023, there are six major companies globally with adiponitrile production capacity, totaling approximately 2.358 million tons per year. Among them, Invista is the world's largest adiponitrile producer, with an equity capacity of 1.07 million tons per year. To complete the nylon 66 industry chain, multiple leading chemical companies in China have accelerated the layout of adiponitrile production capacity. Currently, Tianchen Qixiang and Huafeng Group have collectively put into operation 400,000 tons.
In terms of industrial polymerization: The process of large-scale production of PA66 is complex. Whether it's batch polycondensation or continuous polycondensation, there are many bottlenecks to be faced. For example, the polymerization and spinning processes are difficult to achieve continuity, and additional raw materials need to be added to ensure the conversion rate.
Regarding the localization process of PA66, for half a century, China has been purchasing patent technology licenses from foreign companies. In the 1970s, Liaoyang Petrochemical Fiber Company built China's first PA66 production facility, with technology and equipment licensed from the French company Rhone-Poulenc. Subsequently, Henan Shenma Group introduced manufacturing technology from Japan's Asahi Kasei Corporation. Approaching the turn of the millennium, Liaoning Yinzhu Chemical Fiber Group and the French company Rhodia jointly established Yinglong Fiber to begin production. Even after 2020, Invista continued to license PA66 polymerization technology to Chinese enterprises.

The commissioning of the Shanghai Jieda Nylon 66 Integrated Project in July 2025 marks a significant breakthrough in Invista's strategic layout in China. This project not only represents the first time Invista has transferred core production technology to a Chinese company, but it also establishes a new model of global industrial chain collaboration.

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