NYSE: ASIX S&P 600 component | |
Industry | Chemical company |
Headquarters | USA |
Number of employees | 1,400 [1] |
AdvanSix is an American chemical company that produces nylon 6 and related chemicals such as caprolactam and ammonium sulfate fertilizers. [2] It operated as Honeywell's Resins and Chemicals division until 2016, when it was spun off as a separate company. [3] The unit accounted for 3 percent of Honeywell's sales at the time. [4] For 2019, revenue is estimated at $1.4 billion. [2] The company traces its lineage to the H. W. Jayne Company, established 1884 in Frankford, Pennsylvania. [5]
AdvanSix has plants in Chesterfield and Hopewell, Virginia, and Frankford and Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The Hopewell plant is one of the world's largest single-site producers of caprolactam. [6] It has an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of ammonia and 400,000 tons of caprolactam. [7] For context, global annual demand for caprolactam is estimated at 5 million tons. [8]
AdvanSix is an integrated chemical manufacturer. It produces phenol in Frankford through the cumene process, where it is converted to caprolactam in Hopewell, polymerized to nylon 6 in Chesterfield and made into film at Pottsville. [9] In addition to internal use, AdvanSix sells acetone, phenol, and alpha-methylstyrene from the cumene process. They sell cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone made from phenol, caprolactam, as well as ammonium sulfate generated by the Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime. [10] The company's nylon resins are used in food, liquid, and consumer packaging along with mono/multifilament products, carpet fibers, and automotive compounding. [2]
In May 2018, federal agents swarmed the company's Hopewell plant in response to a referral from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. [11] The investigation related to air emissions and was concluded in May 2019. [12] In May 2019, the company announced that it would halt the production of biaxially-oriented nylon film in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, laying off 85 workers. This type of film is used in food packaging. The company now purchases the film from Oben Group in Lurin, Peru. [13]
Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers with amide backbones, usually linking aliphatic or semi-aromatic groups.
Phenol, or Benzenol, is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula C6H5OH. It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group bonded to a hydroxy group. Mildly acidic, it requires careful handling because it can cause chemical burns.
Picric acid is an organic compound with the formula (O2N)3C6H2OH. Its IUPAC name is 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP). The name "picric" comes from Greek: πικρός (pikros), meaning "bitter", due to its bitter taste. It is one of the most acidic phenols. Like other strongly nitrated organic compounds, picric acid is an explosive, which is its primary use. It has also been used as medicine (antiseptic, burn treatments) and as a dye.
Petrochemicals are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as maize, palm fruit or sugar cane.
Hopewell is an independent city surrounded by Prince George County and the Appomattox River in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 23,033. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Hopewell with Prince George County for statistical purposes.
The Beckmann rearrangement, named after the German chemist Ernst Otto Beckmann (1853–1923), is a rearrangement of an oxime functional group to substituted amides. The rearrangement has also been successfully performed on haloimines and nitrones. Cyclic oximes and haloimines yield lactams.
D. G. Yuengling & Son, established in 1829, is the oldest operating brewing company in the United States. In 2018, by volume of sales, it was the largest craft brewery, sixth largest overall brewery and largest wholly American-owned brewery in the United States. Its headquarters are in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. In 2015, Yuengling produced about 2.9 million barrels, operating two Pennsylvania facilities and a brewery in Tampa, Florida.
Hydroxylamine is an inorganic compound with the formula NH2OH. The material is a white crystalline, hygroscopic compound. Hydroxylamine is almost always provided and used as an aqueous solution. It is consumed almost exclusively to produce Nylon-6. The oxidation of NH3 to hydroxylamine is a step in biological nitrification.
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Cyclohexanone is the organic compound with the formula (CH2)5CO. The molecule consists of six-carbon cyclic molecule with a ketone functional group. This colorless oily liquid has a sweet odor reminiscent of benzaldehyde. Over time, samples of cyclohexanone assume a pale yellow color. Cyclohexanone is slightly soluble in water and miscible with common organic solvents. Billions of kilograms are produced annually, mainly as a precursor to nylon.
Braskem is a Brazilian petrochemical company headquartered in São Paulo. The company is the largest petrochemical company in Latin America and has become a major player in the international petrochemical market.
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Bridesburg is the northernmost neighborhood in the River Wards section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Bridesburg is an historically German and Irish community, with a significant community of Polish immigrants who arrived mostly in the early- to mid-twentieth century. The community is home to two Catholic churches: All Saints Church, designed by Edwin Forrest Durang, built in 1889; and Saint John Cantius Church, built in 1898 in Polish Cathedral style.
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Nylon 66 is a type of polyamide or nylon. It, and nylon 6, are the two most common for textile and plastic industries. Nylon 66 is made of two monomers each containing 6 carbon atoms, hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid, which give nylon 66 its name. Aside from its superior physical characteristics, nylon 66 is attractive because its precursors are inexpensive.
Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GSFC) is an Indian chemicals and fertilizers manufacturer, owned by the Government of Gujarat. GSFC was founded in 1962 and has its headquarters in Vadodara on the Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway. As of fiscal year 2021–22, fertilizers such as diammonium phosphate, ammonium sulfate and urea generated over 60% of the company's revenue, while industrial products including caprolactam, nylon 6, melamine and MEK oxime contributed the remaining share.
Commodity chemicals are a group of chemicals that are made on a very large scale to satisfy global markets. The average prices of commodity chemicals are regularly published in the chemical trade magazines and web sites such as Chemical Week and ICIS. There have been several studies of the scale and complexity of this market for example in the USA.
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Grupa Azoty Zakłady Azotowe "Puławy" PLC is a Polish chemical company based in Puławy, Lublin Voivodeship, specializing in the production of mono-volumes of nitrogen fertilizer, one of the world's largest producers of melamine. It also produces caprolactam, hydrogen peroxide, AdBlue and technical gases.
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