Viscose fiber supplier Lenzing Group, with headquarters in Lenzing, Austria, is investing $300 million in a new Tencel plant in Mobile, Alabama.
The plant, paired with other manufacturing advances companywide, is expected to increase Lenzing’s Tencel fiber capacity by more than 50% by 2019. The company already operates a production facility in Axis, Alabama, near Mobile.
The site, which will have a production capacity of 90,000 tons per year, will go online in the first quarter of 2019, the company said in a news release.
Lenzing aims to increase the share of specialty fibers as a percentage of revenue to 50% by 2020. Lenzing’s current Tencel fiber capacity worldwide is 222,000 tons per year.
“This investment represents another major milestone in the implementation of our corporate strategy,” said Stefan Doboczky, chief executive officer. “It will bring us a big step further to reach our target of 50% revenue from specialty fibers by 2020.”
