Solutia to sell Light Denier Industrial Yarn Business

Solutia Inc. has agreement to sell certain assets of its Light Denier Industrial (LDI) yarn business to SANS Fibres from South Africa (SANS). The completion of the transition is expected to take two years. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Solutia will exit the yarn manufacturing business as SANS develops its own manufacturing capability. Initially, SANS will market products manufactured by Solutia; manufacturing will transition to SANS from Solutia's Greenwood site as SANS builds capability. The entire process of Solutia exiting the business is expected to be complete by the third quarter of 2002, after which Solutia will continue to provide polymer to SANS for the LDI business.

Solutia's LDI yarn is currently manufactured at the Greenwood, S.C., site, serving industrial sewing threads and heavy-duty nylon fabrics. Greenwood has a total of approximately 1000 Solutia employees, with approximately 200 Greenwood employees work in the LDI manufacturing business. Solutia also produces Spin Draw Industrial (SDI), Bulked Continuous Filament (BCF) which is used to make carpet, and polymer flake, used in a variety of fiber and molded products.

SANS is the world's largest supplier of nylon 6,6 yarns for use in the sewing thread industry. They will locate their facility for LDI manufacture in North Carolina.

As part of the agreement, the two companies have also entered into a supply arrangement for yarn and nylon polymer.

Solutia is a world leader in performance films for laminated glass and aftermarket applications; resins and additives for high-value coatings; specialties such as aviation hydraulic fluid and environmentally friendly cleaning solvents for aviation; an integrated family of nylon products including high-performance polymers and fibers; and process development and scale-up services for pharmaceutical fine chemicals.

Edited by Anndrea Vorobej
Managing Editor, TextileWeb