A US$229 million JV petrochemical plant producing Spandex was opened in Jiangsu province by Hong Kong toy and gift maker Kiu Hung International and Shanghai-listed Sinochem.
The plant will initially produce 5,000 tons of Spandex, which is used in a variety of textiles.
In 2002, China produced 39,000 tons of Spandex against a total domestic demand of 52,000 tons. Demand for Spandex is expected to grow to 81,000 tons in 2004 and 124,000 tons by 2008.
China is the world's biggest textile producer and consumes a quarter of the world's Spandex output. Most of the Spandex imports come from South Korea – the world's biggest Spandex producer – and the US.