Four Major Chemical Giants Shut Down or Sell Off

[DT New Materials] has learned that following SK Group and Solvay, four major chemical giants BASF, INEOS, INVISTA, and LANXESS have announced business adjustments.

(1) Invista, closing the Maitland plant in Canada.

On September 23, INVISTA decided to close its Maitland plant in Canada and relocate the production of DYTEK® A amine to its plant in Victoria, Texas, USA.MaitlandThe factory's exit plan will be initiated in the coming months, affecting approximately 100 employee positions.

According to the information, Invista.MaitlandThe factory opened in 1953 and was formerly a DuPont Canada facility, primarily producing hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid. In 2009, Invista closed the hexamethylenediamine operations at the plant. On July 24, 2024, Invista announced an investment of approximately CAD 23 million (about RMB 120 million) to restart the hexamethylenediamine assets, with production expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025.On July 29, 2025, INVISTA further announced that, in addition to the more than $2 billion invested over the past 10 years, it will invest an additional over $500 million in the next five years (totaling approximately 17.97 billion yuan) for the development of new business, marketing, and fiber and fabric innovation programs for the CORDURA® brand.

DYTEK® specialty intermediates are a series of multifunctional amines and nitriles, including linear, branched, and cyclic aliphatic amines and unsaturated nitriles.It is reported that Invista's move aims to improve operational efficiency and meet the growing demand for 2-methylpentanediamine.It will also promote the localized production of DYTEK® A amine at the Shanghai plant through a strategic partnership with Shanghai Jieda Chemical Co., Ltd. It is reported that the 120,000 tons/year hexamethylenediamine facility of the Shanghai Jieda nylon integration project was put into operation in June this year.

(2) BASF: Exiting the bisulfite business

On September 24, BASF announced its decision to exit the hydrosulfites business and will close the related production facilities located in Ludwigshafen, gradually ceasing the supply of products such as Hydrosulfite F, HydroBlue®90, HydroBlue®92, Hydrosulfite Evo, Adlite®, and Blankit. Hydrosulfites are used as reducing agents in the dyeing process in the textile industry and as bleaching additives in pulp and paper applications.

The decision is part of BASF's strategic assessment of the production layout at its Ludwigshafen site, which will affect approximately 65 employees in this business unit. Previously, BASF had already shut down several related facilities at the site, including those for adipic acid, cyclododecanone, and cyclopentanone.

Infinix: ShutdownEuropean Propylene Oxide (PO) and Propylene Glycol (PG)

On September 18, reports stated that...Infinix will also indefinitely shut down the production of propylene oxide (PO) and propylene glycol (PG) in Europe.Even if Germany's chlorohydrin method epichlorohydrin production facility with an annual output of 210,000 tons resumes chlorine supply.

It has been reported that the company notified customers on September 8 that it will immediately cease the production of PO/PG and will withdraw from relevant working groups of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) by 2026. INEOS's propylene oxide production facility in Cologne, Germany, has previously supplied raw materials to its nearby propylene glycol production facility with an annual output of 120,000 tons. However, since the fire at the Dolmagen chemical park substation on July 12, 2025, both facilities have been shut down. The fire at the substation also caused Covestro to face force majeure issues with a series of products, including chlorine gas, TDI, and polyols.

Since the beginning of this year, Invista has shut down multiple production lines. In June 2025, INEOS Phenol, the world's largest producer of phenol and acetone, announced its intention to permanently cease production in Gladbeck, Germany.

Lanxess: Sale of Joint Venture Shares

On September 23, LANXESS decided to sell its entire stake (40.94%) in Envalior to its joint venture partner, Advent International's investment firm, for a base acquisition price of approximately 1.2 billion euros. Subject to financing conditions, the joint venture partner is obligated to purchase all or at least half of LANXESS's shares starting from April 1, 2026. The completion of this share sale and the extent of its completion will be determined no later than March 2026.

In 2022, Lanxess partnered with Anhong Capital to acquire the engineering materials business (DEM) of Royal DSM and merged it with its own High Performance Materials division (HPM) to establish a new engineering materials company named Envalis. In April of the following year, Envalis officially commenced operations, with Lanxess injecting polymer business lines including polyamide and PBT.Core products include PA66 (Durethan®), PA410 (ECOPAXX®), PA4T, and PPS.In April 2025, Lanxess sold its polyurethane business to Japan's UBE Corporation for 500 million euros. With this, Lanxess has essentially exited the polymer market.

In addition, on August 14, Lanxess announced that it would advance the closure of its hexane oxidation unit at the Krefeld-Uerdingen plant from 2026 to the end of the second quarter of 2025; streamline its global specialty chemicals plant network, and close the production facility at its Widnes plant in the UK by 2026; and plans to improve bromine production efficiency at its Eldorado plant in the USA. These measures are expected to save €50 million annually starting from the end of 2027.