By John Reid Blackwell, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Honeywell International Inc. said this week that its resins and chemicals business has broken ground on a new nylon resins production line at its manufacturing plant on Bermuda Hundred Road in Chesterfield County.
Morristown, N.J.-based Honeywell announced plans for the expansion in April 2014. It said no new jobs were expected to be created as a result of the expansion.
The new production line will produce multiple grades of two types of nylon resins used in food packaging films, providing barrier properties that keep food fresh, Honeywell said.
Resins also are used in automotive and industrial applications such as carpeting and plastic parts.
The new production line is expected to be in operation in the fourth quarter of this year and will expand the manufacturing capacity of the Chesterfield facility by 40,000 metric tons to 200,000 metric tons per year.
The company is expanding production as demand for nylon films grows.
Honeywell said the use of nylon films in North America is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 4.5 percent. About 10 billion pounds of food packaging film is produced in North America annually.