WILMINGTON, Del. — DuPont and China Worldbest Development Corp. will look into a joint venture for making and marketing Lycra spandex in China.
“The Lycra strategy is to have a world-scale manufacturing presence in all growth areas,” said Salim Ibrahim, vice president and general manager of DuPont Lycra. “Expansion to meet the long-term market needs in China is the logical extension of that strategy.”
Ibrahim said the company has a substantial Lycra commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, with large manufacturing facilities in Japan and Singapore. The capacity of the Singapore plant was recently doubled, Ibrahim added, and there are plans to continue to expand in Asia. The product is also manufactured in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, the U.K. and the U.S.
China Worldbest Development is majority-owned by the China National Textile Council. Among its purposes is to further the development of the textile industry in China.
DuPont currently has two manufacturing ventures in China — one wholly owned facility at Shenzhen for slitting Riston photopolymer film and Tyvek spunbonded olefin, and one joint venture at Shanghai to produce Londax rice herbicide.
Also, DuPont recently announced plans for a joint venture in China with Dongguan South Electronic Corp. to manufacture electronic materials for microcircuits.