Polyamide (PA) supplier Domo Chemicals, exhibiting at Chinaplas in booth H17L81, recently broke ground on its new PA plant in Jiaxing, China, to keep pace with strong demand for the engineering plastic from the mobility sector, as well as electrical and electronics (E&E), consumer, and industrial goods. The new 25,000-tonnes/year compounding asset is slated for completion in Q2 2024. Eventually, Domo plans to raise overall PA compounding capacity in China to 50,000 tonnes/year. This will be supported by an expansion from 2,000 tonnes/year to 8,000 tonnes/year in India and a toll compounding agreement with Korea’s Mika Inc. that makes available 10,000 tonnes/year of capacity.

EV battery cooling fuels demand

The new energy vehicle (NEV) market is a key growth driver for PA in China, according to Domo. “For some years we were a bit doubtful about PA’s future in auto, as we saw no high temperature requirements of 120°C, as in internal combustion engines, but this turned out not to be the case,” noted Domo’s Chief Commercial Officer for Engineered Materials, Ludovic Tonnerre. “Battery cooling turned out to be very important and you need to keep the temperatures below 60°C, while there are also flame-retardant requirements.”

Speaking at a pre-Chinaplas event in Shenzhen over the weekend, Tonnerre also stated that Domo’s entire range of Technyl PA fossil-based products would be available in sustainable versions by 2026. “We already have PA 6 fully covered and are working very hard on PA 66 to make it fully sustainable,” he said. Sustainable PA grades will be based on mechanically or chemically recycled feedstocks, with key challenges being to ensure glycol resistance and color stability. Currently, Domo uses 20,000 tonnes/year of mechanically recycled PA in its products, with the intent being to double this, which would translate to around 20% of its carbon footprint.

Key products featured at Chinaplas

Domo will present a number of key highlights at Chinaplas 2023, among them two new sustainable solutions that further expand Domo’s Technyl 4Earth portfolio:

These new solutions reportedly represent a breakthrough for the automotive and E&E markets and demonstrate Domo’s commitment to sustainability. They are also essential to the company’s undertaking to double sales in circular solutions by 2030, thereby meeting the evolving needs of its customers.

For the e-mobility sector, Domo offers:

Another major focus at Chinaplas will be PA solutions for the photovoltaic industry. For example, Domo has successfully introduced Technyl Protect A 21T4 V25 BK to the China market, which is a red phosphorous-based HFFR product that provides a balance between flame retardancy and electrical and mechanical properties. Rounding out this product line, Technyl Protect AT20 V25 BK and Technyl Protect A 50H1 BK provide complete solutions for junction box and connector applications.

Chinaplas 2023 runs from April 17 to 20 at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center.