AUSTRIA – Lenzing says its €130 million 64,000 tonne Tencel expansion at its site in Austria is on track to be completed in 2014. The company says it will be the most modern man-made fibre facility in the world and will become the central location for the Lenzing group’s specialty textile fibres.

With a production capacity of 64,000 tonnes of specialty fibre per annum, Lenzing’s new, under-construction fibre facility in Austria, will give a boost to the production of sustainable textile fibres by expanding the production of Tencel beyond its current three locations in the UK, the USA and Austria.

“Tencel represents the greatest technological innovation in the man-made cellulose fibre industry since the invention of the viscose fiber around 100 years ago,” claimed Dieter Eichinger, Vice President Business Unit Textile Fibers, Lenzing AG. “The developments of the last twenty years are just the beginning of a success story which will continue for many decades to come. Tencel uniquely answers the demands for competitive production costs relative to other fibers with the demands for sustainable production.”

Currently, Tencel is only produced at the Lenzing sites in Heiligenkreuz (Austria), Grimsby (UK), and Mobile (USA), but commissioning of the new facility in 2014 will become the central location for the Lenzing group’s specialty textile fibres.

The company says attractive energy costs that result from the onsite energy generation, the skilled workforce, and proximity to Lenzing’s central research facilities including the Tencel pilot plant were all critical factors for expanding strategic operations in Lenzing, Austria.

Expanding markets

Lenzing says the significant capacity expansion supports growing demand for Tencel in many new textile and apparel applications – especially in the denim sector. “Denim designers are particularly excited about Tencel,” said the company, “…(its) smooth fibre surface and perfect moisture management turn jeans into articles of clothing which enhance physical well-being … its high tenacity stands up to the mechanical stresses of the denim production process like no other man-made fibre.”

Other new, growing applications for Tencel include home textiles such as bed covers and linens as well as in sportswear, outerwear and even technical textiles.