The Austrian Lenzing Group will build a wood-pulping plant in Brazil as part of a joint venture with the wood-based materials group Duratex. The plant in the state of Minas Gerais, near São Paulo, will strengthen the backward integration and thus the special fiber growth of the fiber producer and world market leader in wood-based cellulose fibers in line with their “sCore TEN” corporate strategy. This strategy focuses mainly on strengthening the core business, deepening cooperation with customers along the value chain, increasing the share of specialty fibers to 50 percent of sales by 2020, expanding quality and technology leadership in industrially manufactured (manmade) cellulose fibers and developing new attractive business areas. The planned single-line fiber pulp mill with a nominal capacity of 500,000 tons will become the largest and most competitive of its kind worldwide. The fiber pulp obtained from wood is the key raw material for the production of Lenzing’s bio-based fibers, and the group will use the entire volume produced by the mill. According to Stefan Doboczky, president of Lenzing’s management board, this will make the company more competitive and independent. Furthermore, the project’s implementation is an important milestone for the group to strengthen its financial position and to achieve sustainable growth in special fibers. The plant is scheduled to go into operation in the first half of 2022.

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