Advantages and Status of Anhui Province's Nylon Enterprise Cluster in China's Nylon Industry

Nylon (polyamide, PA) is an important engineering plastic and synthetic fiber raw material. Among them, nylon 66, as a high-performance composite material, is currently the most widely used nylon variety on the market and is extensively applied in engineering plastics, mechanical components, high-end apparel, chemicals, electronics, plastics, tires, and other fields. China is the world’s largest producer of nylon 66. In 2024, the country’s total nylon 66 production capacity reached 1.27 million tons, accounting for 37% of the global total. As of November 2025, China’s total PA66 production capacity had further increased to 1.481 million tons per year.

The nylon industry in Anhui Province is centered around Fuyang City, relying on the Fuyang Coal-based New Materials Industrial Park (Yingdong Chemical Park). With Haoyuan Chemical Group as the leading enterprise in the chain, it has formed a nylon industry cluster dominated by Nylon 66 and characterized by coal-based chemical new materials. In 2024, the park established Anhui Province's first Nylon 66 production base and was ranked among the top ten new materials industrial parks in Anhui Province in the same year. This article aims to analyze the competitive advantages and industrial status of the nylon enterprise cluster in Anhui Province within the national nylon industry.

1. Industrial Carriers and Spatial Layout

The core carrier of Anhui Province’s nylon industry is the Fuyang Coal-Based New Materials Industrial Park (Yingdong Chemical Industrial Park). The park was established in 2013, and its planned area has been expanded to 12.28 square kilometers. With Haoyuan Chemical Group as the leading enterprise, the park focuses on developing coal-based new materials industries such as Nylon 66 and high-performance phenolic resins. In 2023, the park achieved an output value of RMB 13.2 billion.

Aerial view of Yingdong Chemical Industrial Park

The Yingdong Chemical Industry Park has developed a modern chemical industry cluster led by Haoyuan Chemical Group, with six upstream and downstream related enterprises already in operation, and has initially established an industrial structure dominated by coal chemicals and their extended industrial chains. In 2025, Fuyang’s 352 above-designated-size new materials enterprises achieved operating revenue exceeding RMB 78 billion, bringing together 20 national-level “Little Giant” specialized and sophisticated enterprises and 91 provincial-level specialized and sophisticated enterprises.

2. Leading Enterprises and Core Projects

Haoyuan Chemical Group is the absolute leader in the nylon industry of Anhui Province. Founded in 1970, this well-established chemical enterprise has invested nearly 30 billion yuan in total through the “relocation and entry into industrial parks” initiative. In 2025, Haoyuan Chemical Group’s revenue will reach the 20 billion yuan mark, making it one of the top 200 manufacturing enterprises in China in terms of overall strength.

Aerial View of Haoyuan Chemical Phase I Project

The core nylon projects of Haoyuan Chemical Group include:

The 400,000-ton-per-year nylon 66 project is being constructed in multiple phases. The first phase officially began feedstock commissioning in August 2024, achieving an annual production capacity of 40,000 tons. As of June 2025, more than 8,000 tons of nylon 66 material had been produced cumulatively. The project fills the gap in Anhui Province’s nylon 66 industry.

Annual 30,000-ton Hexamethylenediamine Project: Construction will commence in 2025, with a total investment of RMB 394.15 million. The project will involve the construction of an aminocapronitrile unit, a hexamethylenediamine production unit, and supporting utility facilities.

The Phase IV project includes facilities with an annual output of 600,000 tons of bottle-grade polyester (PET) and 400,000 tons of nylon 66, with a total investment of RMB 11.9 billion. Upon full completion, it will form annual production capacities of 1.05 million tons of synthetic ammonia, 700,000 tons of methanol, and 300,000 tons of ethylene glycol, generating sales revenue of RMB 30 billion.

1. Strategic Cooperation Advantages: Partnering with International Giants to Break Through Technological Barriers

One of the most prominent competitive advantages of the nylon industry in Anhui Province lies in its strategic partnership with global nylon industry giant Invista. Two years ago, Haoyuan Chemical Group reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Invista (China) Investment Co., Ltd. to jointly build a high-end chemical new material nylon 66 whole industry chain in Fuyang.

Source: China Chemical Industry Park

Invista is a global leader in the nylon 66 industrial chain and has long held production technologies for core raw materials such as adiponitrile. Through this strategic cooperation, Haoyuan Chemical has been able to adopt internationally leading proprietary process technology. According to the company, the nylon 66 produced in Fuyang is “of higher quality and stronger performance, and is highly recognized in the market.” This cooperation model, deeply tied to an international giant, has enabled Anhui Province’s nylon industry to start from a relatively high technological base, effectively avoiding the lengthy domestic R&D cycle needed to overcome the “bottleneck” of adiponitrile technology.

2. Advantages of the Coal-Based Industrial Chain: A Value Leap from “Black Gold” to “Green Materials”

The nylon industry in Anhui Province is distinguished from other nylon clusters in the country by its unique coal-based chemical industry chain foundation. The development of the nylon industry in Fuyang is not about creating something from nothing, but rather about innovating from existing resources—represented by Haoyuan Chemical, which has over fifty years of accumulation in the coal chemical industry.

From an industrial chain perspective, raw coal is gasified into methanol and synthetic ammonia, and then further extended downstream to become key raw materials for nylon 66, ultimately entering application fields such as automotive parts and electronic appliances. This “coal-to-chemicals, chemicals-to-fibers” pathway has formed a complete value chain from basic chemical feedstocks to high-end new materials.

Significant industrial synergy effects: Hangmo Technology New Materials (Fuyang) Co., Ltd., located in the same park, utilizes methanol produced by Haoyuan Chemical to manufacture formaldehyde and phenolic resin, achieving an output value of 2.2 billion yuan in 2024; Anhui Zhongke Haohai Gas Technology uses the tail gas from Haoyuan Chemical to produce special rare gases, realizing high-end liquid hydrogen "Made in Fuyang." This development model of "raw materials not leaving the park, industrial chain collaboration" effectively reduces logistics costs and energy consumption.

Image source: Yingdong Release

3. The advantage of self-controllable raw materials: extending layout upstream

The core bottleneck in the nylon 66 industrial chain lies in the upstream raw materials adiponitrile and hexamethylenediamine. For a long time, global adiponitrile production capacity has been highly concentrated among a few multinational chemical giants such as INVISTA and Ascend. Although China accounts for more than one-third of global nylon 66 consumption, it has long relied on imports to meet its demand for adiponitrile.

Anhui Province is accelerating its in this crucial segment: Haoyuan Chemical’s project with an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons of hexamethylenediamine has entered the construction phase. Hexamethylenediamine is one of the direct raw materials for nylon 66, and the construction of this project will effectively enhance Anhui’s self-sufficiency and controllability in the nylon industry chain, reducing its dependence on external raw material supplies. Amid the broader trend toward the domestic production of adiponitrile, Anhui’s supporting raw material capabilities will continue to strengthen.

4. Location and Market Advantages: A Strategic Pivot of Yangtze River Delta Integration

Fuyang is located in northern Anhui and enjoys a strategic regional advantage of linking east with west and connecting south with north. The Yingshang Chemical Park is bordered by the Fuyang-Huainan Railway to the north and the Ying River to the south. A dedicated railway line with an annual throughput of 3.3 million tons has been completed and put into operation, and the Ying River waterway is navigable for 3,000-ton vessels.

More importantly, the park is leveraging its role as a collaborative hub for high-end new materials in the Yangtze River Delta, precisely aligning with the domestic substitution needs of industries such as new energy vehicles and integrated circuits in the region. Trends such as the lightweighting of new energy vehicles and the enhanced performance of electronic and electrical products have created broad market opportunities for nylon 66 materials. As a strategic gateway through which the Yangtze River Delta radiates into northern Anhui, Fuyang enjoys a natural advantage in providing nearby services to the region’s high-end manufacturing industry.

5. Policy and Innovation Advantages

Anhui Province and Fuyang City have elevated the new materials industry to a strategic level. In Fuyang’s “6849” industrial development framework, the new materials industry is explicitly identified as one of the eight strategic emerging industries, with advanced materials included in the four major future industries for forward-looking planning.

In terms of innovation platforms, Yingdong Chemical Park has established cooperative relationships with major institutes such as the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Donghua University, and East China University of Science and Technology, and has built 75 provincial-level or above R&D platforms. Over the past three years, Haoyuan Chemical has invested a total of 1.133 billion yuan in R&D and has been granted 167 patents.

1. Position in Production Capacity Scale

From the perspective of the national nylon 66 capacity landscape, by the end of 2025, domestic nylon 66 polymerization capacity had risen to nearly 1.5 million tons per year, with capacity distributed across multiple provinces and municipalities including Shanghai, Henan, Chongqing, and Zhejiang. Haoyuan Chemical’s 40,000-ton-per-year nylon 66 capacity (Phase I) has already entered normal production.

Although Anhui still lags behind leading clusters such as China Nylon City in Pingdingshan, Henan, with a total production capacity exceeding 4 million tons, and INVISTA in Shanghai in terms of absolute capacity, as a new entrant in the nylon 66 industry, Anhui has achieved a leap from zero to large-scale production in just two years, making its pace of development remarkable.

2. Positioning in the National Nylon Industry Landscape

The nylon industry in the country is showing a polarized competitive landscape.

Pingdingshan, Henan (China's "Nylon City"): the country's largest nylon industry cluster, hosting more than 200 upstream and downstream enterprises, with total nylon production capacity exceeding 4 million tonnes and operating revenue surpassing 100 billion yuan.

Shanghai: the location of INVISTA’s Asia-Pacific headquarters and a concentrated hub for high-end nylon 66 production capacity.

Zhejiang: Represented by Zhejiang Petrochemical in Zhoushan, a 500,000-ton/year nylon 66 project is under construction.

Shandong, Jiangsu, and Fujian: the main concentration areas for nylon 6 production capacity, with the three provinces accounting for 66.5% of the country’s total nylon 6 capacity.

Anhui (Fuyang): An emerging production base for nylon 66, characterized by coal-based chemical industry and distinguished by clear advantages in differentiated competition.

Anhui Province’s differentiated positioning in the national nylon industry landscape is reflected in three aspects: first, the uniqueness of its coal-based route—while most nylon clusters in China rely on petrochemical or caprolactam routes, Anhui leverages its abundant coal resources to pursue a “coal-to-chemicals” pathway, offering advantages in raw material costs; second, the advantage of being a latecomer—as a new entrant, it can directly adopt the most advanced international process technologies; and third, a strategy of differentiated competition—by avoiding head-on competition with traditional nylon powerhouse provinces in the nylon 6 sector, it focuses on the high-performance engineering plastics segment of nylon 66.

3. The Role in the Localization Process of Nylon 66

The localization of nylon 66 has become a major issue in China’s new materials industry. For a long time, the key raw materials for nylon 66 were monopolized by foreign giants. With companies such as Tianchen Qixiang and Shenma Co., Ltd. achieving technological breakthroughs in adiponitrile, China’s nylon 66 industry has entered a period of rapid development.

Anhui Haoyuan Chemical has played an important role in this process. As one of China’s major companies with a strategic presence in the nylon 66 sector, Haoyuan Chemical is building integrated capabilities from raw materials to polymerization through cooperation with international industry leaders and independent upstream expansion, including its hexamethylenediamine project. The Fuyang nylon 66 project fills a gap within Anhui Province and is of positive significance for improving the regional distribution of nylon 66 production capacity across China.

1. Main Challenges

(1) There is still a gap in production capacity. Compared with the “China Nylon City,” which has a total production capacity of 4 million tons and annual revenue in the hundreds of billions, Anhui Province’s nylon industry is still in its early stages of development, and the scale effect has yet to be realized.

(2) Autonomy over upstream raw materials needs to be strengthened. Although the hexamethylenediamine project has been launched, the adiponitrile segment still relies on external supply, and the completeness of the industrial chain needs to be improved.

(3) The downstream application ecosystem is still being developed. Nylon 66 is used in multiple downstream fields, including engineering plastics and automotive components. The local downstream supporting industries in Anhui are not yet well developed, and application markets need to be continuously expanded.

2. Development Prospects

(1) Continued capacity expansion. Haoyuan Chemical’s 400,000-ton nylon 66 project will gradually release subsequent production capacity. Upon completion of all four phases, the project is expected to generate an additional RMB 30 billion in sales revenue. Fuyang City plans to develop the park into a RMB 100 billion-level chemical new materials industry base.

(2) The industrial chain is extending into higher-end segments. Haoyuan Chemical has clearly stated that it will continue to focus on special-grade nylon 66 materials for flame retardants in the new energy vehicle sector, as well as special-grade nylon 66 materials for pultrusion applications. The nylon new materials and new energy vehicle parts industrial park has already been launched and implemented, and the downstream application ecosystem is expected to improve at an accelerated pace.

(3) Integrate into the Yangtze River Delta integration strategy. As a collaborative hub for high-end new materials in the Yangtze River Delta, Anhui’s nylon industry will closely align with the import substitution needs of industries such as new energy vehicles and integrated circuits in the region, with broad market prospects.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China

The nylon enterprise cluster in Anhui Province is centered around the Fuyang Coal-based New Materials Industrial Park, with Haoyuan Chemical Group as the leading enterprise, forming a distinct nylon 66 industrial cluster. Its advantages and position in the national nylon industry can be summarized as follows:

The core advantage lies in a three-pronged model driven by “international technical cooperation + coal-based industrial chain + latecomer scale-up.” Through strategic cooperation with INVISTA, the company has gained access to internationally leading process technologies; by leveraging more than 50 years of experience in coal chemical production, it has built a low-cost raw material supply base; and through substantial investment, it has rapidly developed large-scale production capacity.

In terms of industry status, Anhui is an important emerging force in the national Nylon 66 industry. Although it lags behind leading clusters such as Henan's "China Nylon City" in absolute scale, Anhui holds a unique and irreplaceable position in the national nylon industry landscape as a representative of the coal-based nylon route and a new material supply base for nylon in the Yangtze River Delta.

In terms of development prospects, as capacity from the 400,000-ton nylon 66 project continues to be released, supporting upstream raw material facilities such as hexamethylenediamine are gradually improved, and the downstream application ecosystem keeps expanding, Anhui Province’s cluster of nylon enterprises is expected to advance from an “important participant” to a “key force” in China’s nylon industry, contributing “Anhui strength” to the localization and high-quality development of China’s nylon sector.