At the beginning of 2017, Honeywell (Morris Township, New Jersey / USA; www.honeywell.com) intends to spin off its businesses with polyamides and chemicals into an independent company under the name AdvanSix. The units affected represent a sales volume of around USD 1.3 bn. Honeywell's CEO, Dave Cote, is convinced that the operations will have better opportunities to become established and attain further growth as an independent company. The Honeywell stockholders will be attracted by the tax-free transfer of shares in the new company. The present head of the unit, Erin Kane, who has been with Honeywell since 2002, is to be president and CEO of AdvanSix.

According to Plasteurope.com's Polyglobe capacity database (www.polyglobe.net), the future AdvanSix will be one of the largest PA 6 producers in the United States and among the top five worldwide, with capacity of around 200,000 t/y of ready-to-use resin at its US site in Chesterfield. In addition, the largely backwards-integrated company will have access to plants for the production of caprolactam – as leading US producer with the world's largest individual facility – phenol/acetone and cumene, right through to cyclohexane. An ancillary activity is the fertiliser business.