EANS-News: Lenzing AG Capacity Expansion in Heiligenkreuz starts with
Ground-Breaking Ceremony
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Company Information
- Expansion of capacities for premium specialty fibers by 25,000 tons
- Investments of about EUR 70 mn over the next twelve months
- Project highlights strategic importance of Heiligenkreuz for TENCEL® premium
fibers
Heiligenkreuz - The Lenzing Group is expanding production capacities for its
specialty fiber TENCEL® at its site in Heiligenkreuz, Burgenland. After
obtaining all required approvals and permits, the expansion project was
initiated today, Tuesday, March 21, 2017. The ground-breaking ceremony was
attended by Lenzing CEO Stefan Doboczky, along with Bernd Zauner and Dieter
Eichinger, the two managing directors of Lenzing Fibers, Burgenland's Provincial
Governor Hans Niessl and Alexander Petschnig, the Regional Minister for Economic
Affairs.
"We will invest about EUR 70 mn over the coming twelve-month period to expand
production capacities for our high-quality botanic specialty fibers", Doboczky
says. "With this investment we are responding to strong global demand for new
types of TENCEL® premium fibers such as the RefibraTM fiber, using cotton scraps
from the manufacturing of cotton garments and wood as raw materials. This fiber
makes a widely-recognized contribution to the circular economy in the textile
industry. The fiber was very successfully launched on the market in February by
our strategic partner Inditex in its Zara stores", he adds.
Annual production capacities for fibers will be increased by about 25,000 tons
as a result of the investment. The fibers will be available to customers
starting at the end of the first quarter of 2018. "We launched the production of
lyocell fibers in Heiligenkreuz 20 years ago, and have expanded the site to make
it to one of the largest industrial employer in Southern Burgenland. The new
investments comprise a further important milestone in our success story, and
will provide added impetus to growth in a structurally weak region", states
Zauner.
Lenzing put its first industrial-scale lyocell fiber production facility into
operation 20 years ago. Today the fibers are sold under the TENCEL® brand name.
A recent study carried out under the scientific supervision of Friedrich
Schneider, Professor at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, concluded that the
Lenzing plant in Heiligenkreuz generates considerable regional economic effects.
In addition to the approximately 230 jobs at Lenzing Fibers itself, around 940
additional jobs are secured on a long-term basis thanks to the company's
economic activities in the region. The additional value creation equals about
EUR 102 mn per year.
In its 20-year history, the Heiligenkreuz plant has sold close to 700,000 tons
of fibers and exported the majority across the globe, as far away as China,
Korea and Japan. The factory in Heiligenkreuz has been continuously expanded due
to rapidly growing demand. Up until now, Lenzing has invested a total of roughly
EUR 750 mn to build and extend production capacities for TENCEL® fibers. In
addition to the Heiligenkreuz facility, these specialty fibers are also
manufactured at the Lenzing site, in Mobile (USA) and Grimsby (Great Britain).
The lyocell technology applied in Heiligenkreuz is characterized by a very good
environmental performance. The cellulose fibers are derived from the renewable
raw material wood in a closed-loop process, resulting in a minimal amount of
environmentally harmful emissions. Due to their outstanding properties, TENCEL®
fibers boast a particularly broad range of applications, both in the world of
fashion as well as technical areas and nonwovens. Lenzing is the leading
producer of lyocell fibers by far, and is continually upgrading and refining
this technology.
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Further inquiry note:
Lenzing AG
Mag. Waltraud Kaserer
Vice President Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Tel.: +43 (0) 7672 701-2713
mailto:w.kaserer@lenzing.com
end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: Lenzing AG
A-A-4860 Lenzing
phone: +43 7672-701-0
FAX: +43 7672-96301
mail: office@lenzing.com
WWW: http://www.lenzing.com
sector: Chemicals
ISIN: AT0000644505
indexes: WBI, ATX, Prime Market
stockmarkets: official market: Wien
language: English