Chinese carpet yarn manufacturer Zhejiang Sitong New Material Technology is expanding its polyester capacity with the commissioning of an Oerlikon Neumag BCF S+ system.

It will enable the company to ensure a balanced production of polyester, polyamide and polypropylene yarns.

With a total capacity of 50,000 tons per year, Sitong is one of the largest BCF yarn manufacturers in Asia. With the additional four BCF S+ positions for polyester yarn, the Hangzhou-located company is responding to trend for this option.

“Our strategy is to have a broad portfolio making us more robust in the face of trends and market fluctuations,” says Tang Liang, president and owner of Sitong. “The decision in favor of Neumag was based on good past experience. Since our foundation in 2002, we have relied on technology from Europe and for polyester production we only consider Oerlikon Neumag plants. We have established ourselves in both the local and international markets and this shows that we have made the right investment decisions.”

The new BCF S+ Monocolor plant, while designed for polyester yarn production, has also produced excellent data in the production of polyamide 6 yarn during the commissioning process. The ability to quickly switch to the cost-effective production of high-quality PA6 yarn gives Sitong a significant competitive advantage.

The Asian carpet market is currently experiencing noticeable growth and while the focus of carpet yarn production has been generally in the US and Turkey, Chinese BCF yarn production is currently experiencing a boom, boosted by the strengthening of China’s automotive sector and also a resurgence in international travel.

“Many hotels are currently being renovated and new ones are being built,” observes says Sun Peng, sales director for Oerlikon Neumag in China. “During the pandemic, many hotels in China were closed, but now there is a significant backlog of orders.”

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