Recently, LANXESS has lifted the force majeure announced last year due to technical issues, involving certain polymer-based compounds, caprolactam and other materials supplied by factories in Germany and Belgium.
It is understood that LANXESS told its customers in a letter on February 18 that the company had lifted the nylon 6 copolymer-based compound and film materials produced at its Krefeld-Udingen plant in Germany and in its Belgian The force majeure of caprolactam produced at the Antwerp plant.
LANXESS stated in the letter:
In our letter dated October 30, 2020 to December 22, 2020, we regret to have to inform you of the technical defects of our caprolactam plant in Antwerp and a reactor in Udingen, which necessitates closure These two factories. In this regard, LANXESS said that at present, the EAME region's caprolactam and Durethan brand compounds and nylon 6 copolymer-based Durethan brand compounds and films have been relieved of force majeure.
At the same time, it added that the caprolactam plants with an annual capacity of 220,000 tons in Antwerp and Udingen are operating at "normal production levels." The nominal capacity of nylon 6 at the Krefeld-Udingen plant is 120,000 tons/year.
LANXESS has warned customers that there may be shortages due to raw material and logistics constraints.
The market demand is extremely high, and due to force majeure, we are still rebuilding inventory levels. Therefore, we can hardly provide additional quantities in all product groups.
In the European nylon 6 market, due to the very healthy demand for automobiles, film packaging, and electrical and electronic components, the market has been in a state of tension since the fourth quarter of 2020. The lifting of the force majeure of LANXESS will bring some relief to the current tight market.
However, this news has relatively little impact on the current domestic market's upward trend.
After the Spring Festival, the continuous rise of raw material pure benzene continued to inject upward momentum for caprolactam, coupled with the high start of downstream polymerization plants to support demand, the domestic caprolactam market has continued to rise recently.
During the Spring Festival, PA6 polymerization started to maintain a starting load of around 74%, and the demand for caprolactam remained high. During the Spring Festival, the caprolactam factory inventory continued to decline, and the tight supply situation has not changed significantly.
With the restart of Shan Dongfang Ming and Shandong Haili's caprolactam plant, the supply of caprolactam may be eased in the later period. However, the current low inventory of manufacturers and the active downstream production, the small increase in supply has limited market restrictions.
Caprolactam is used to produce nylon 6 resin, which can be used in various applications, such as fiber and film materials. Nylon 6 copolymer-based compounds can be used in the production of automotive parts and electrical and electronic parts.
