The Austrian fiber manufacturer Lenzing AG will in future produce fibers of its Tencel brand locally for the Chinese market. The company has successfully completed the conversion of the production line at the Nanjing site “from generic viscose to Tencel brand modal fibers for textiles and clothing,” Lenzing announced on Tuesday. The group can now offer its Chinese customers “locally manufactured Tencel fibers for the first time and thus serve the structurally growing demand even faster”.
With the opening ceremony of the converted production line on Tuesday, the company took an important step in the implementation of its strategy. “Due to the conversion of the line with a nominal capacity of 35,000 tons per year, the fiber portfolio of the Chinese production site now consists exclusively of environmentally friendly special fibers,” emphasized Lenzing.
According to the company group, it is investing a total of 100 million euros in its Chinese location in order to “further reduce CO2 emissions and further improve the product portfolio”. From 2023 onwards, the electricity consumed there will “obtain exclusively from renewable sources”.
CEO Stephan Sielaff explained the latest measures: “The demand for our environmentally friendly specialty fibers is constantly increasing. We see enormous growth potential, especially in Asia,” he said in a statement. “With the investments in China and also at other Asian locations, we can serve this growing demand even faster. At the same time, we continue to march with determination towards a carbon-neutral future and towards a champion of the circular economy.”