The Lenzing Group has a plan to increase share of its specialty fibers business to represent 50% of its overall revenue by 2020. This goal will be achieved through the previously announced expansion plans at existing Lenzing sites in Heiligenkreuz in Austria and Grimsby in the U.K., as well as a recently approved Tencel fiber plant in the U.S. The company’s supervisory board has approved the construction of a state-of-the-art plant with a production capacity of 90,000 tons per year at its site in Mobile, AL. The new facility will be the largest Tencel fiber plant in the world, setting a new milestone in the history of lyocell fibers. The cost of this investment is reported at $293 million. It will use the latest technological standards and is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2019.

Lenzing’s worldwide production capacity of Tencel fibers is currently 222,000 tons per year. The new plant in Mobile plus the already announced debottlenecking projects at the other Tencel  sites will increase the total fiber capacity by more than 50% by 2019. The decision to build this plant in the U.S. was supported by the good infrastructure at the Mobile site as well as attractive energy costs.

“This investment represents another major milestone in the implementation of our corporate strategy sCore TEN. It will bring us a big step further to reach our target of 50% revenue from specialty fibers by 2020,” explains Lenzing CEO Stefan Doboczky. “This expansion also underscores our commitment to all our Tencel fiber customers, who continue to make their products even more sustainable using Tencel fiber—the world’s most sustainable botanic fiber.”

The better implement Lenzing’s expansion program, which is essential for driving the group’s organic growth agenda, the company has created a new management board role, pooling together the key technical, operational and engineering responsibilities. This led to the appointment of Heiko Arnold as chief technology officer. In addition to a strong scientific and technical education, Arnold has gained many years of experience with BASF in the realization of major investment projects and continuous operational improvements as well as extensive know-how in research and development. He will be responsible for all technical departments in the Lenzing Group.