World nylon leader starts compounding in Canada

A new compounder will open its doors this month in Mississauga, Ont. Rhodia, one of the top three nylon producers worldwide, will expand into North America with a 20,000 sq. ft., multi-million dollar plant producing compounded nylon and an application development centre for the automotive industry in Michigan.

The Rhodia Mississauga compounding facility will be located within an existing specialty chemicals facility owned by the company. It was scheduled to begin production in November, and will be able to produce all of Rhodia’s engineered materials, based on nylon and nylon 6/6. The neat nylon will be imported from Rhodia plants in France and Brazil. Initial capacity for the Mississauga plant is 5000 tonnes; it could go up to as much as 20,000 tonnes if the market dictates.