End of Nylon 66 Manufacturing Operations, a 4.5 year journey.

21 March 2024 - © Fluorchem Corporation

On July 1st 2024, Fluorchem will officially end the production of Nylon 66, putting an end to a four and a half year production run. We began producing Nylon 66 on 22 December 2019 under the SA chemical brand, which in 2020 rebranded to Fluorchem. 

During our years of production, we produced hundreds of kilograms of Nylon 66 polymer in a responsible manner that prioritized our commitment to safety and environmental responsibility. We operated our production units under regulation that always put safety first which contributed to our low numbers of recordable incidents relating to the Nylon 66 line since production began. 

Production of Nylon 66 at Fluorchem sold the majority of our product to China to produce many products for the clothing and health and personal care industries. Nylon 66 is a type of nylon manufactured at Fluorchem from the polycondensation of hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid in aqueous solution producing the corresponding ammonium nylon salt, the dehydration of the resulting solution through heating induces polymerization producing the final Nylon 66 polymer. 

Nylon 66 is a high performance polymer. Nylon 6, and Nylon 66 are the two types of Nylon used to make clothes. This because it has excellent tensile strength and durability with superior mechanical properties that make it an ideal material suited for many different applications including: toothbrushes, wedding gowns, swimsuits, shirts, corsets, foundation garments, cycle wear, stockings, backpacks, lingerie, and athletic wear. Every year, we sell enough Nylon to manufacture tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of each of these items. 

Fluorchem Nylon Operations had its best production year in 2022 with record production and sales building off a great 2021 year. Fluorchem Nylon Operations was worth its all-time highest amount on 20 March 2022 which at the time was double the worth of bleach operations. In 2023, although still making great profits numbers were slightly lower than 2022 and for the first time in 4 years bleach production overtook nylon production on 10 April 2023 no longer making nylon our largest production line. Fluorchem is ending production of Nylon 66 at its two production units due to a number of factors including increased maintenance costs, ageing equipment, and rising cost of starting chemicals. Our production units, PLV-18 and PLV-22 will be sold for parts and demolished in the weeks following production end in July. 

PLV-18 and PLV-22 both shutdown shortly after 3:00 AM on 1 July 2024. 

On 22 August 2024 Fluorchem Corporation confirmed the completion of demolition activities of PLV-18 and PLV-22. 

We thank you, our customers, for choosing Fluorchem Nylon 66 during our time of production. The next time you put on a pair of stockings, wear a shirt or put on leggings, the material its made from could be from one of our production units. We hope you continue to enjoy our new product lines.