EANS-News: Lenzing AG
Lenzing invests in new TENCEL® fiber plant in the USA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer/originator is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Company Information - State-of-the-art 90,000 tons TENCEL® fiber plant to be built in Mobile, Alabama - Investment of EUR 275 mn - operations to start in the first quarter of 2019 - Strengthening of technical expertise by creating a new Management Board Role - Heiko Arnold appointed Chief Technology Officer Lenzing - The Lenzing Group aims to increase the share of specialty fibers as a percentage of revenue to 50 percent by 2020. Following the previously announced expansion plans for Lenzing, Heiligenkreuz (Austria) and Grimsby (Great Britain), the Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG approved yesterday the investment for a TENCEL® fiber plant in the USA. Lenzing now plans to construct a state-of-the-art plant with a production capacity of 90,000 tons per year at its site in Mobile, Alabama. The new facility will be the largest TENCEL® fiber plant in the world, it will set a new milestone in the history of lyocell fibers. The investment volume will total USD 293 mn (EUR 275 mn). The new plant will utilize the latest technological standards and is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2019. The Lenzing Group currently has a worldwide production capacity of 222,000 tons per year of TENCEL® fibers. The new plant in Mobile plus the already announced debottlenecking projects at the other TENCEL® fiber sites will increase the total TENCEL® fiber capacity by more than 50 percent by 2019. The decision to build this plant in the US was supported by the good infrastructure at our Mobile site and 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 percent revenue from specialty fibers by 2020", explained 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," added Doboczky. The disciplined implementation of the Lenzing's expansion program is essential for driving the Lenzing Group's organic growth agenda. Therefore it was decided to create a new Management Board role, pooling together the key technical, operational and engineering responsibilities. The Supervisory Board of the company appointed today Heiko Arnold as the new 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 & Development. He will be responsible for all technical departments in the Lenzing Group. "We are pleased to welcome Heiko Arnold, a further expert with broad international experience, to Lenzing's Management Board team", commented Hanno Bästlein, Chairman of the Lenzing Supervisory Board. "Lenzing is on a successful, dynamic growth course with the development and implementation of the new sCore TEN corporate strategy, and that makes an increase in the Management Board to four persons a reasonable step. His 15 years of experience in Asia, in the realization of major investment projects and in operational excellence make Arnold a perfect match for the challenges faced by Lenzing", explained Bästlein. Photo download: https://mediadb.lenzing.com/pindownload/login.do?pin=W2LWF PIN: W2LWF 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
Original content of: Lenzing AG, transmitted by news aktuell