Well Matched
By Manik Mehta

The moisture management qualities of Lyocell allow moisture to be wicked away.

LENZING SEES ITSELF IN STRONG POSITION GLOBALLY WITH TENCEL ACQUISITION

On May 4, 2004, Austrian fiber manufacturer Lenzing AG acquired the Tencel business of the Dutch company Corsadi BV. This places Lenzing in a strong position globally and triples its Lyocell capacity.
Headquartered in Lenzing, Austria, Lenzing AG posted sales figures of 622 million euros in 2003 and is rated as one of the global market leaders in the manufacture of cellulose fibers for textiles and nonwovens, both "commodity products" and "value-added products." By allocating more than 2% of its turnover for R & D purposes, Lenzing can develop the latest technology.

Corsadi is a multinational group of businesses based in the Netherlands, supplying customers throughout the world with man-made fibers and specialty materials for industrial and textile applications.

With sales of 100 million euros in 2003, Tencel is a branded value-added business with product categories such as textiles (denim, bottom-weights, dresswear/shirts, soft tailoring, jersey, knitwear, and home textiles) and nonwovens (medical, hygiene, consumer, and technical products).

Mike Proctor, Tencel's acting CEO, said that the deal represented a "great opportunity" for the Tencelorganization to see Lyocell fiber technology become the cellulosic fiber of the 21st century. "Our coming together with Lenzing signals a commitment to our core competence in cellulosic fibers," Proctor emphasized.

By acquiring the Tencel business, Lenzing (561-738-9580) now has five facilities capable of producing Lyocell products.

Tencel boasts a capacity of about 80,000 tons a year with Lyocell plants in Mobile, AL, and in the U.K. (Grimsby). Lenzing has a capacity of 40,000 tons a year and is expanding its two plants in Austria and the one in Indonesia, close to its significant Asian market.

To reduce production and labor costs, Lenzing also produces in China, contracting business to Chinese producers on a selective basis, according to Friedrich Weninger, Lenzing's director for marketing and sales (textile fibers).

"Functionality is the trend in the market," notes Weninger. "With a clearly differentiated product portfolio with an increasing number of specialty fibers, we see good markets for our specialty fibers in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and particularly in Asia (India, Pakistan, South Korea, Japan, and China)," said Weninger, adding that Pakistan is a big buyer of its fiber and processed products.

Lenzing's chairman, Thomas Fahnemann, described the Tencel takeover as a "milestone" for the Lenzing group. "With Tencel, the brand name, we are taking over a very successful brand, together with its international marketing team."

Fahnemann adds, "By owning three additional Lyocell production sites, Lenzing will be able to use the available capacities with much more flexibility in the future, as well as responding in an optimum fashion to market and customer needs."