The Rise of China's Nylon! Shantou Textile and Garment Enterprises Seize Market Opportunities with United Efforts

2025-09-11 16:35:32

The four international giants—Invista, Ascend, BASF, and DuPont—which long dominated 70% of the global nylon market, are now facing a restructuring of the industry landscape due to technological breakthroughs by Chinese companies. The year 2025 marks a pivotal turning point for the global nylon 66 industry. China has achieved a major breakthrough in the domestic production of adiponitrile, accelerating the expansion of the nylon 66 industry, which had long been constrained by a bottleneck in raw material supply. By the end of 2024, China's total nylon 66 production capacity reached 1.27 million metric tons, accounting for 37% of global capacity and making it the world's largest producer.

The game between raw materials and supply-demand dynamics

The price of nylon 66 has shown significant fluctuations in recent years. Latest data indicates that the price of nylon 66 chips has recently been on an upward trend, with the average price approaching 50,000 yuan per ton a week ago, marking a weekly increase of nearly 5%. The price changes are primarily driven by the dual impact of tight global raw material supply and sustained demand growth. In particular, price fluctuations of the core raw material adiponitrile directly influence the cost changes of nylon 66.

China becomes the largest producer of nylon

China's nylon 66 industry has experienced rapid development in recent years, with total production capacity reaching 1.27 million tons by the end of 2024. From 2018 to 2024, the industry achieved an average annual growth rate of 16%. In June 2025, China Pingmei Shenma Group announced the official commissioning of the country's first 100,000-ton/year adiponitrile production facility, marking a major breakthrough in overcoming the bottleneck of key raw materials for nylon 66. Significant capacity expansion is expected in the future, with domestic planned capacity projected to exceed 8 million tons by 2025. The core driver of this development is the breakthrough in key technologies—domestic adiponitrile capacity is set to surge to 1.5 million tons by 2025. Meanwhile, changes in the nylon 6 market are also unfolding in parallel!

China is the core market for global nylon 66 consumption. It is estimated that China's nylon 66 demand will reach approximately 1.32 million tons in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% from 2021 to 2025. By 2030, national demand is expected to reach 2.88 million tons, with a CAGR of 17% from 2026 to 2030. The global market is also expanding continuously, with total global PA66 capacity projected to reach 3.51 million tons in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 16%.

China's nylon 6 is expanding rapidly

Currently, China's nylon 6 industry is in a phase of rapid expansion, with continuous capacity increases providing solid support for robust market demand. The industry exhibits a typical pattern of "leading concentration and regional clustering." There are now over 40 nylon 6 chip producers nationwide, mostly located in eastern coastal regions like Jiangsu and Zhejiang, showcasing significant industrial agglomeration effects. In 2024, China's apparent consumption of nylon 6 grew by 24.9% year-on-year, while the self-sufficiency rate further rose to 107.1%, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous year, indicating that domestic supply capacity has fully met demand.

Nylon fabric has a wide range of market applications.

Nylon 6, also known as polyamide 6, is widely used in outdoor sports equipment and other fields due to its lightweight, easy dyeability, high elasticity, wear resistance, tear resistance, and water resistance.

Core Need 1: Safety Protection

The price of nylon 66 has shown significant fluctuations in recent years. Latest data indicates that the price of nylon 66 chips has recently been on an upward trend, with the average price approaching 50,000 yuan per ton a week ago, marking a weekly increase of nearly 5%. The price changes are primarily driven by the dual impact of tight global raw material supply and sustained demand growth. In particular, price fluctuations of the core raw material adiponitrile directly influence the cost changes of nylon 66.

China becomes the largest producer of nylon

China's nylon 66 industry has experienced rapid development in recent years, with total production capacity reaching 1.27 million tons by the end of 2024. From 2018 to 2024, the industry achieved an average annual growth rate of 16%. In June 2025, China Pingmei Shenma Group announced the official commissioning of the country's first 100,000-ton/year adiponitrile production facility, marking a major breakthrough in overcoming the bottleneck of key raw materials for nylon 66. Significant capacity expansion is expected in the future, with domestic planned capacity projected to exceed 8 million tons by 2025. The core driver of this development is the breakthrough in key technologies—domestic adiponitrile capacity is set to surge to 1.5 million tons by 2025. Meanwhile, changes in the nylon 6 market are also unfolding in parallel!

China is the core market for global nylon 66 consumption. It is estimated that China's nylon 66 demand will reach approximately 1.32 million tons in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% from 2021 to 2025. By 2030, national demand is expected to reach 2.88 million tons, with a CAGR of 17% from 2026 to 2030. The global market is also expanding continuously, with total global PA66 capacity projected to reach 3.51 million tons in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 16%.

China's nylon 6 is expanding rapidly

Currently, China's nylon 6 industry is in a phase of rapid expansion, with continuous capacity increases providing solid support for robust market demand. The industry exhibits a typical pattern of "leading concentration and regional clustering." There are now over 40 nylon 6 chip producers nationwide, mostly located in eastern coastal regions like Jiangsu and Zhejiang, showcasing significant industrial agglomeration effects. In 2024, China's apparent consumption of nylon 6 grew by 24.9% year-on-year, while the self-sufficiency rate further rose to 107.1%, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous year, indicating that domestic supply capacity has fully met demand.

Nylon fabric has a wide range of market applications.

Nylon 6, also known as polyamide 6, is widely used in outdoor sports equipment and other fields due to its lightweight, easy dyeability, high elasticity, wear resistance, tear resistance, and water resistance.

Core Need 1: Safety Protection

Beyond basic protective functions, comfort and functional aesthetics have become high-growth selling points. How outdoor nylon apparel can strike a new value balance between functionality and innovation is a key consideration for companies developing safety protection products.

Core Need 2: Comfort Features

The current market for nylon apparel with comfort features exhibits a "dual-track parallel" characteristic. In the development of such nylon products, cool-touch and seamless sensations may emerge as new highlights. Companies could consider leveraging IP collaborations to enhance product appeal while ensuring that the designs meet both fashion and functional demands.

Core Need 2: Comfort Features

Currently, the health and skin-friendly nylon apparel market is showing a trend of "seeking innovation while maintaining stability." Features like "skin-friendly" and "sweat-wicking" have become key drivers of high growth. Creating versatile pieces that are both "wearable outdoors" and "breathable and comfortable" will unlock greater market potential for the company's products.

Core Need 4: Easy-care Quality

The classic everyday styles continue to lead the market through material upgrades and functional optimizations; the relatively lackluster basic volume styles need to find breakthroughs through differentiated designs or functional upgrades. Features like "machine washable and quick-drying" enhance care efficiency, supporting the core consumer demand for "hassle-free and comfortable wear."

Core Demand 5: Ecological and Environmental Protection

Protection remains a fundamental market demand, but growth momentum is gradually shifting toward the integration of lightweight design and stylistic expression. Companies can prioritize "lightweight" as a key development focus, innovating products that blend "functional sportswear" with "quiet luxury" aesthetics.

Shantou's nylon industry is developing rapidly.

In recent years, the application scope of nylon filament has expanded, leading to an increased demand for nylon filament products in the Chaoshan region. Seizing market opportunities, Shantou's textile and garment industry has continuously extended its supply chain upstream. Currently, the number of nylon enterprises in operation or under construction has grown from one to six, including Jinlion Nylon, Tianhao Nylon, Yinghua Nylon, Shengda'an Nylon, Jianda Nylon, and Huawei Nylon. The annual production capacity of nylon has progressively risen from the original 17,000 tons to 472,000 tons.

In March 2025, Shantou's textile and garment industry is poised to capitalize on the momentum, aiming to achieve an annual production scale of 1 million tons of nylon. The city has identified the establishment of a new high-quality fabric manufacturing base as one of its "Four Major Projects." Currently, there are seven planned new nylon projects, which are expected to add an annual production capacity of 580,000 tons. Once all nylon projects are fully operational, the total annual production capacity will reach 1.052 million tons.

Future Foreseeing

As a net exporter of nylon 6, China has shown active trade performance. In 2024, imports decreased by 21.5% year-on-year, while exports grew by 20.5%. The main export destinations are concentrated in Asian markets such as India, South Korea, and Vietnam, collectively accounting for 62.1% of China's total nylon 6 exports. It is projected that the industry will maintain an average annual growth rate of 10.9% from 2022 to 2026, demonstrating strong and sustained development potential.