The Lenzing Group is to spend 120m ($176m) in 2010 on expanding cellulose fibre production in Europe and Asia, the Austrian fibre company said on Monday.
The main projects would include extending pulp production at Lenzing in Austria, increasing fibre production at Heiligenkreuz in Austria to 60,000 tonnes/year and the remodelling of a site at Grimsby in the UK to enable it to produce special fibres, the company said in a statement.
"We are expecting continuing strong demand for Lenzing fibres over the coming years," said Lenzing management board chairman Peter Untersperger. The company added that its fourth production line at Indonesian subsidiary PT South Pacific Viscose (SPV), which would increase fibre production capacity by 40,000 tonnes/year to 220,000 tonnes/year, was due to start operations in a couple of weeks.
"Already today we expect that demand will exceed Indonesian production capacity. We will therefore begin with debottlenecking production right after start-up, with the aim to increase SPV production capacity by another 18,000 tonnes to 238,000 tonnes per year," said Untersperger.
