Polish chemicals and plastics producer Grupa Azoty (Tarnów; www.grupaazoty.com) is upgrading its polyamide production with an eye toward expansion and creating a more flexible portfolio. The company plans to invest PLN 320m (nearly EUR 77m) in a new 80,000 t/y plant for PA 6 to be built adjacent to an existing facility of undisclosed capacity in the special economic zone at Tarnów. Start-up of the new facility, which will use caprolactam produced locally, is scheduled for 2016.

Azoty said its decision to build a second plant is in reaction to increasing demand for PA from the automotive sector and other industries using structural fibres. It sees itself in a good position to become a leading regional supplier. In future, the company intends to focus more on downstream products such as polymers by increasing the production volumes of higher value-added plastics, said new general director Witold Szczypinski, noting also that Azoty will shift its focus from Asia to Europe. This can be interpreted to mean that caprolactam once exported to overcapacity-plagued China – see Plasteurope.com of 18.02.2011 – will be used closer to home in future. Plans to build a caprolactam facility in China have been dropped, a spokesperson has confirmed to Plasteurope.com.

The change in focus evidently reflects the Polish company’s substantial losses on caprolactam production last year, a problem also faced by other European producers. Azoty’s figures for 2013 show a 17% year-on-year decline in sales of the polyamide feedstock. This triggered a swing from a positive EBIT of PLN 72m (EUR 17m) to a loss of PLN 109m (EUR 26m) in the plastics segment, which includes PA. The segment’s pro forma sales shrank from nearly PLN 1.7 bn (EUR 408m) in 2012 to PLN 1.5 bn (EUR 360m) last year. The company also took a writedown of PLN 46m (EUR 11m) on POM production in Tarnów and is currently reviewing moves to improve competitiveness. For PA, which is currently seeing global growth of around 3.5% it also expects improved figures in 2014.

According to PIE’s capacity database Polyglobe (www.polyglobe.net), Azoty has capacity to produce 170,000 t/y of caprolactam at Tarnów and Pulaw, along with 45,000 t/y of PA 6 at Tarnów and 48,000 t/y of PA 6 in Guben / Germany. Together the plants should consume about 100,000 t/y of caprolactam, leaving about 70,000 t/y to be sold on the open market. The company is now believed to be operating its capacity for the direct PA feedstock flat out after curbing production last year to reduce use of expensive benzene starting material.