PHP Fibers

Though there is a new name – POLYAMIDE HIGH PERFORMANCE – our business has a long and great tradition!

                                                                       History of Plant Obernburg, Unterfranken / Germany
                                                                                      (founded 1924 for textile viscose production)

Our business with high-tenacity polyamide yarns started more than fifty years ago under the name Vereinigte Glanzstoff Fabriken AG with the first production of Enkalon® (Polyamide 6) in Obernburg followed some years later by Enka® Nylon (Polyamide 6.6).
Not only the employees changed during these years, the range of our yarn types became wider and the requirements for our yarn properties became higher and higher over the last years, but there have also been several changes in our company’s name:

First companys name was Vereinigte Glanzstoff Fabriken AG, founded 1899 in Aachen, which moved 1901 to Elberfeld (later named Wuppertal-Elberfeld). The companys name changed several times in the past: Glanzstoff AG (1966), Enka Glanzstoff AG (1972), Enka AG (1977), Akzo Faser AG (1991), Akzo Nobel Faser AG (1994) and finally befor the split-off Acordis AG (1998).

During the period of Enka AG there has been a reorganisation by Business Units (1988), here the high-tenacity polyamide business was a part of the BU Industrial Fibers. This name changed to Acordis Industrial Fibers (1998). Up to 2001 – when Acordis Industrial Fibers started to split-up – the business unit included also high-tenacity polyester yarns (Diolen®) and viscose yarns (Cordenka®).

Finally in August 2003, our polyamide business became a legal entity and started its activities under the company’s name Polyamide High Performance – briefly PHP – in Germany and the United States.

In February 2004 our PHP – Shanghai Representative Office has been established. June 2006, joint ventures with China SHENMA for the production and marketing of Enka® Nylon airbag yarns have been signed. First ShenMa-PHP (Pingdingshan) Air Bag Yarn Manufacturing Co., Ltd., has been founded and the laying of the foundation stone for the plant in Pingdingshan (Henan/China) took place in August 2006 – production already started in October 2007. PHP-ShenMa Air Bag Yarn Marketing (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. for the exclusiv sales and marketing of Enka® Nylon airbag yarns of Pingdingshan production was founded at the beginning of 2007.

February 26th, 2009, PHP takes over Diolen Industrial Fibers GmbH, Obernburg/Germany. From March 1st, 2009, the high-tenacity polyester (Diolen® / Diofort®) business – which went into insolvency in autumn 2008 – will continue under the company name Polyester High Performance GmbH as a subsidiary of PHP.