DuPont, USA, is to partner with China's Zhangjiagang Glory Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. to manufacture and distribute DuPont's bio-based Sorona polymer throughout Asia.

Han Bin, president of Glory, commented, "We take a great honour in being able to work with DuPont, especially for such a visionary product that could bring value not only to customers but also to the environment in the long run."

Located in the Jiangsu Province in China, Glory was formed earlier this year exclusively to produce Sorona polymer. The company broke ground in May on its new continuous polymerization (CP) facility, which will manufacture Sorona using technology know-how licensed from DuPont. The facility is scheduled to start up in the fourth quarter with plans to offer the first commercial product in the second quarter of 2007. Output capacity will be in the region of 30,000 tons per year.

Bio-PDO, the raw material for Sorona, will be supplied from the DuPont Tate & Lyle BioProducts facility in Loudon, Tenn., USA.

"After screening over a dozen firms, we found that Mr. Han and his team were best positioned to be a strategic partner with DuPont, based on their impressive operating experience, attention to quality and desire to be involved in every step of product commercialization," said Peter Hemken, vice president and general manager - DuPont Bio-Based Materials - Sorona and Bio-PDO. "We believe our partnership with Glory will help us expand our business on a global level and incorporate new thinking and experience into the Sorona brand. There currently is a very strong supply chain in Asia and this partnership will help us shorten the time to market by having polymer, fibre, fabric and garments all created in one region."

Sorona offers a unique combination of attributes and benefits in one fibre, said DuPont. It has exceptional softness, comfort stretch and recovery, vibrant colour, resistance to wrinkles and fading, and easy care attributes.