KENNESAW, Ga. — June 23, 2011 — To help meet continued demand driven by growth of the global airbag
market, INVISTA, one of the airbag industry’s leading suppliers, has developed plans to invest in
multiple projects within the next five to seven years across its global industrial nylon yarn
manufacturing network. Coming on the heels of recently announced expansions in Qingpu, China, and
Gloucester, United Kingdom, INVISTA is planning to add another seven kilotons of spinning capacity
at its Kingston, Canada, facility. Start-up of these latest assets is expected in the second
quarter of 2012.
“Our customers have sent us a very clear message that their demand is increasing across the
world, which creates a need for us to invest in capital equipment — potentially in the hundreds of
millions of dollars” said John Barnes, INVISTA global business director for industrial nylon
products. “These efforts will help us to support our customers’ needs to secure access to
this important raw material.”
Barnes continued, “We are currently working closely with major airbag system manufacturers to
understand their needs. The design work for the Kingston expansion is largely complete, and
assuming continued strong market demand, construction can begin in the second half of 2011.”
Jeff Brown, vice president of INVISTA performance materials, explained that the rapid
execution around this particular investment is quite novel. “By utilizing innovative equipment
design and construction techniques, our teams have developed creative options to allow us to
rapidly replicate our existing machine technology,” said Brown. “These efforts should allow INVISTA
to complete this project in roughly half of the time of a typical design-and-build program.”
Posted on June 28, 2011
Source: Invista
