Lenzing opened office in Coimbatore
Austrian cellulosic fibre major Lenzing, plans to set up a viscose fibre production plant in India in association with the Modi Group. On the occasion of opening its sales and marketing office in Coimbatore on Tuesday, Mr Friedrich Weninger, vice president, Lenzing Fibers, said: “In the first phase, the plant will have a capacity 80,000 tonnes at a cost of $ 200 million. Lenzing will hold majority stake in the new venture. It will bring its technical competence and production experience into the new joint venture while Modi Fibers will provide the land and local experience”.The plant, to be located in Mumbai, is likely to be operational by 2009-10 and will cater to both do mestic and export markets. Mr Weninger said that Lenzing is bullish on Indian market with cellulose fiber demand expected to touch five lakh tonnes by 2010 from the present 4,000 tonnes. “For the calendar year 2006, we sold around ,000 tonnes of our fibres in India and our target is to double it in 2007 ” claimed Mr Weninger. Steep import duties have forced the company to sell its fibres at premium in the country. “In India the import duties on these fibres is almost 50 % higher than in other markets,” he stated. Lenzing is currently selling its three branded fibres — Lenzing Modal, Lenzing Viscose and Tencel. Among the three, it is the Modal fibre, which is largest selling in the country.
In India, Lenzing is current selling the Modal fibre to companies such as Sutlej Industries, Rajasthan Spinning and Weaving Mills, The Lakshmi Mills and Vardhman Spinning and General Mills, among others. Lenzing has been selling its speciality fibres through Stuti Exports for the past five years and has been co-branding its fibres with textile players such as Madura Garments and Raymond.
