DuPont opens new lycra plant in Singapore

SINGAPORE, Oct. 6 Kyodo E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. of the United States opened a 170 million Singapore dollar (102 million U.S. dollar) plant in Singapore on Wednesday to spin lycra -- a stretchable fibre -- for the fast-growing textile industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

The plant, which began operations in May this year, will nearly double DuPont's capacity in Singapore to supply lycra to fabric mills and garment manufacturers in Asia and around the world, the company said in a statement.

It said the textile industry in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in China, Japan and India, is on the upturn, and demand for lycra is "experiencing unprecedented growth."

The new plant is DuPont's second in Singapore for the manufacture of lycra. The company also has plants making other products in Singapore.

Lycra was by DuPont.

DuPont now has five plants in Singapore, with another one under construction. The six plants represent a total investment of 1.45 billion Singapore dollars.

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