Lenzing Group reinforces its activities in China

Lenzing Fiber Shanghai – opening of new branch office

The official opening of the new branch office in Shanghai signals the reinforcement of the activities of the Lenzing Group in China, the world’s number one textile nation. With this step Lenzing is taking into account the good development of business in the Asian region as a whole and preparing the ground for further opportunities for growth. „The sale of special fibers has recently undergone a very positive development inciting us to open the office in Shanghai. With this foothold in the Chinese market we aim to increase our annual export volume ”, Thomas Fahnemann, Chairman of Lenzing AG, explains the reasons for the group’s greater commitment to China.

Reinforcement of marketing activities, more customer service and technical support for customers

The branch office in Shanghai will assume the sales tasks for Lenzing fibers currently peformed by the Lenzing site and will play an active role in market expansion in China. „The Lenzing Shanghai Office offers Chinese customers the fiber ex works“, the manager of Lenzing Shanghai, Ernst Sandrieser, explains. „Thus we are reinforcing the service we offer to our customers with regard to sales and logistics and are directly supporting our customers with the processing of our fibers via a technical team. In addition we also wish to promote awareness of the brand name of Lenzing fibers“, Ernst Sandrieser explains. Another important task for the Lenzing branch office in Shanghai will be to manage the textile value added chain and provide international textile buyers with information about Chinese fabric manufacturers via data banks.

Lenzing Fibers: impressive development in China

In recent years China has become the world’s leading textile nation. This boom was triggered when China joined the WTO (World Trade Organisation). From this period onwards China greatly and persistently increased its exports. „A market with 1.2 billion consumers and annual growth rates of seven to eight percent – this is an opportunity not to be missed by any producer, particularly not if you wish to continue to be the global market leader“, Thomas Fahnemann explains.

For more than 15 years the Lenzing Group has supplied increasing quantities of viscose fibers to the Asian market via its Indonesian associate, South Pacific Viscose. Lenzing AG, an Austrian company, has exported Modal and Lyocell fibers to China since 1999. Business developed so well in the Asian region that Lenzing Fibers opened an office in Hong Kong in the year 2000. China is interesting as an export country as well as a consumer market. Modal fibers are already an established product amongst Chinese consumers and are used in lingerie articles due to their softness. The main applications for Lyocell fibers are in the field of woven fabrics, for example silky fabrics for blouses and shirts. The Chinese consumer particularly appreciates the silky hand and pleasant coolness of Lenzing Lyocell® when worn next to the skin.

„We hope that the activities of our new branch office in China will help us to get a stronger hold on this interesting market. We are currently taking a close look at all the options available for a new production site. Before we make a decision we want to prepare the ground well so that we can act quickly when the time is right“ Thomas Fahnemann comments.