As of late 2025, China’s adipic acid, hexamethylenediamine, and PA66 (nylon 66) industrial chain is grappling with a severe price slump and profitability crisis, with most product prices plunging to multi-year lows. The root cause lies in a drastic supply-demand imbalance: domestic adiponitrile production capacity has exploded following technological breakthroughs, while downstream demand—especially from the automotive sector—has slowed. Despite acute short-term challenges, including heavy losses for key intermediates, the PA66 industrial chain retains strong long-term potential. Its future will focus on high-end specialization, product differentiation, green sustainability, and vertical integration, unlocking opportunities for innovative enterprises with strategic layouts.
By the end of 2025, core products in the hexamethylenediamine industrial chain have hit their lowest levels in over 15 years, leaving market sentiment sluggish. This sector has drawn intense industry attention in recent years, driven by a production scale surge fueled by domestic technological breakthroughs. Two critical questions emerge: Is the ongoing value contraction a result of worsening supply-demand imbalances? And does the industry hold potential for a recovery?
1. Key Products Plunge to 15-Year Price Lows
Market data confirms that by late 2025, prices across the industrial chain have reached historic troughs:
• Hexamethylenediamine: The market price has dropped to ¥17,000 per ton, with a 2025 annual average of ¥19,000 per ton—the lowest since 2010 and the first time prices have fallen below ¥20,000 per ton. As a core raw material for PA66, this slump has directly pressured PA66 pricing.
• PA66: Domestic market prices have tumbled to ¥15,000 per ton, with a 2025 annual average of ¥17,000 per ton—also a 15-year low. This steep decline underscores the dramatic value contraction across the entire industrial chain.
• Adipic Acid: The foundational raw material’s market price hovers around ¥6,700 per ton, with a 2025 annual average of ¥7,500 per ton. Comparing to historical data (2020 average: ¥7,200 per ton; 2015 average: ¥7,240 per ton), current prices are near historical lows, signaling strong potential for a rebound. For detailed product specifications and applications, visit our Adipic Acid product page.
2. Profitability Crunch: Negative Margins for Key Intermediates
Rough market estimates reveal a grim profitability outlook for the industry in 2025:
• Hexamethylenediamine: Theoretical profit margins hit a 29% loss—one of the most severe deficits in recent years. Prior to domestic adiponitrile breakthroughs, PA66 producers relied entirely on external purchases of hexamethylenediamine, so these losses have dragged down the entire PA66 sector’s profitability.
• Adipic Acid: Theoretical profit margins fell to a 17% loss—the worst performance in 15 years. While the sector recorded modest losses (around 5%) in 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2024, the deficit expanded drastically in 2025.
• PA66: The end product managed to maintain minimal profitability, but its margins remain under significant pressure due to weak upstream performance and soft downstream demand.
3. Domestic Adiponitrile Tech Breakthrough: A Double-Edged Sword
Before 2022, China was 100% reliant on adiponitrile imports. The production process involves highly toxic hydrogen cyanide and complex catalytic systems, creating formidable technical barriers. However, sustained R&D investment has led to transformative breakthroughs:
• 2015: Tianchen Qixiang built a 50-ton butadiene-based adiponitrile pilot plant.
• 2019: Chongqing Huafon commissioned a 50,000-ton adipic acid ammoniation adiponitrile facility.
• July 2022: Tianchen Qixiang launched a 200,000-ton butadiene-based adiponitrile production line.
• June 2025: Pingmei Shenma put a 100,000-ton aminocapronitrile unit into operation, pioneering a new caprolactam-based process that bypasses traditional adiponitrile methods.
By late 2025, China’s operational adiponitrile production capacity exceeded 600,000 tons, with the domestic self-sufficiency rate surging from 0% to 40%—a qualitative leap. This technological breakthrough has triggered an industrial scale explosion: enterprises like Ningxia Ruitai and Shanghai Invista have started production, with over 1.9 million tons of projects planned or under construction. Projections suggest that by 2030, China’s adiponitrile capacity will surpass 2.6 million tons, reshaping the global industrial structure.
Upcoming projects—including second-phase expansions by Tianchen Qixiang and Shenma Co., Ltd., as well as new facilities by Xinhecheng, Lanqi Fine Chemicals, Fujian Haichen, and Huayan Chemical—will further boost supply. While this breakthrough alleviates China’s dependence on imports and breaks foreign technological monopolies, it has also intensified short-term supply-demand imbalances, weighing on prices.
4. Sluggish Downstream Demand: The Primary Drag
PA66 is widely used in the automotive industry (accounting for 47%+ of total consumption), electronics, industrial fibers, and tire cord fabrics. Its role in automotive lightweighting makes it highly sensitive to automotive sector trends.
Over the past two years, global automotive growth has slowed sharply: in 2024, production declined in all regions except China and South America, with global output falling 1.6% year-on-year. While China’s automotive production maintained modest growth, the expansion pace decelerated significantly, and automakers’ profit margins contracted sharply—directly dampening PA66 consumption. Weak demand from other downstream sectors, such as electronics and industrial fibers, has further exacerbated the market’s downward pressure.
5. Long-Term Potential: Transformation Drives Future Growth
The record-low prices reflect a severe value contraction, fundamentally caused by a mismatch between rapidly expanding supply and sluggish demand. However, the nylon industrial chain remains promising long-term, thanks to its high technological barriers, irreplaceable product properties, and growing end-market demand.
The future of the PA66 industrial chain will revolve around four key trends:
• High-end specialization: Focus on high-performance grades for aerospace, new energy vehicles, and other high-value sectors.
• Product differentiation: Develop customized products to avoid homogeneous competition and price wars.
• Green sustainability: Adopt low-carbon production processes and recycled raw materials to align with global environmental regulations.
• Vertical integration: Build integrated industrial chains from adiponitrile to PA66 resins and downstream products to optimize cost control and supply stability.
Enterprises with strong R&D capabilities, differentiated product portfolios, and integrated layouts will be best positioned to seize opportunities amid industry restructuring.
