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G. Gurumurthy

Coimbatore , Sept. 8

LENZING AG, the Austrian cellulose fibre major, which is putting up a new 60,000-tonnes-per-annum viscose plant in China is looking at China and India as the high potential region for its specialty fibre for the future. The China plant is likely to go on stream by the end of 2006.

The China plant being built at an investment of around $70 million is designed not only to meet the fibre requirement of the textile industry but it is also expected to provide the raw material for the booming non-woven industries in the Asian region.

According to Mr Thomas Gaidoschik, Lenzing's Sales Director for the Asia Pacific, the China plant will position itself as a high grade viscose supplier.

A lot of new man-made fibre units have come up in China recently. The annual consumption of cellulose fibre in China is estimated at 700,000 tonnes.

To a specific query by this correspondent on the scope of Lenzing putting up a plant in India for viscose or taking over any existing plant, Mr Gaidoschik said though this aspect would have to be decided at the Lenzing's headquarters in Austria, his company is keeping all the options open with regard to having a plant in India.

Mr Gaidoschik was here recently along with other members of the Lenzing's business development unit — Mr Peter Krueger and Mr Johann Leitner — to take part in a road-show for Lenzing's fibre range.

Lenzing AG has two production plants in Europe, one and one viscose plant in Indonesia. The setting up of the China plant at Nanjing will allow the Austrian fibre major acquiring its total viscose fibre production capacity in Asia at 2.10 lakh tonnes. While its European plants produce the premium cellulose fibre grades under the `Modal' brand, the Austrian company has last year acquired the Tencel group which has lyocell fibre (`Tencel' brand) producing plants in Alabama in the US and Grimsby in the UK.

Of the estimated 2 million tonnes of global cellulose fibre production, Lenzing's share is about 25 per cent.

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