Fibrant B.V. to Discontinue Caprolactam Plant in the United States

United States: Fibrant LLC, which manages the North America business of Fibrant B.V., has announced plans of winding down its caprolactam production plant in Georgia, United States. This is the only caprolactam plant in the US which has been operational since 1966. The company manufactures caprolactam in United States and ships it to China, resulting in high transportation costs. The costs are substantially high that it is difficult to keep up with the supply and demand of caprolactam and hence is a factor for closure of the facility at Augusta, Georgia. The winding down of the company’s U.S business will take approximately 16 months and would impact between 500 and 600 employees, including from Fibrant and contracted employees. As per Mr. Walter Sprouse who is associated with Augusta Economic Development Authority, the company will meet all obligations to its employees, and serve the needs of its customers to a possible extent.

TechSci Research depicts that the closure of Fibrant LLC caprolactam plant in the US would impact the pricing, supply and demand of caprolactam across the globe. This closure would also impact the benzene market in the country since caprolactam is derivative of benzene. Besides company’s business, all chemical related jobs in the state of Georgia will be affected since the closure would result in loss of jobs of hundreds of people.

According to the recent report published by TechSci Research, “Global Benzene Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020”, global benzene market is expected to surpass 46MMT by 2020 on account of continuously increasing demand from various industries using benzene derivatives in their manufacturing processes. The use of lighter feedstock is hampering the yield of benzene and leading to a tight demand/supply scenario in the global market, due to which the market has become highly competitive and all major players are investing in R&D to improve the quality and properties of the product.