Invista Mulls Polyester Sale

Invista, the fibers and resins business of Koch Industries, is assessing the future, including a possible sale, of its North American polymer and resins business, which makes polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins as well as some polyester fibers. Included in the assessment are PET plants in Spartanburg, S.C., and Querétaro, Mexico, and a plant in Wilmington, N.C., that makes the PET raw material dimethyl terephthalate. The company says similar assets in Europe and its polyols business are not involved. Most of the assets being reviewed originated with Hoechst’s Trevira unit, which Hoechst sold to a partnership between Koch and Mexico’s Grupo Saba in 1998. In 2001, Koch bought Saba’s 50% stake in the business, later merging it with Invista, which Koch acquired from DuPont. The North American PET industry has struggled in recent years because of overcapacity. In 2008, Wellman declared bankruptcy. Also that year, Koch closed lines at its Greer, S.C., plant and idled its Millhaven, Ontario, facility. It has also closed a purified terephthalic acid plant in Wilmington, N.C. Early this year, Eastman Chemical said it was considering the sale of its PET business.