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The Textile Magazine
APRIL 2012
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37
The large-scale market success of these two specialty
fibers enabled the company to partially detach itself
from the volatile market trends of 2011, according to
CEO Untersperger.
Lenzing rigorously pressed ahead with its capacity ex-
pansion program in 2011. As a result, the annual nomi-
nal production capacity of the Lenzing Group rose by
about 8 per cent, from 710,000 tons of man-made cel-
lulose fibers at the beginning of 2011 to 770,000 tons at
the turn of 2011-12. Capital expenditures of the group
totalled EUR 196.3 million in 2011, somewhat below
the comparable prior-year figure of EUR 230 million
which had also included the acquisition costs for Biocel
Paskov. This development was due to the postponement
of investment projects as at the reporting date.
Despite the current level of investments, the net finan-
cial debt of the Lenzing Group was reduced by almost
half, declining to EUR 159.1 million at the end of 2011
from the previous year’s figure of EUR 307.2 million.
The cash flow still reached a level of EUR 113.4 million
despite the investments made. “With an adjusted equity
ratio of close to 45% and a net financial debt compris-
ing one-third of annual EBITDA, we are very well posi-
tioned financially. Lenzing is largely autonomous with
respect to its ability to finance growth steps in the up-
coming years”, says Chief Financial Officer Thomas G.
Winkler.
Segment Fibers full capacity use
According to preliminary estimates, global fiber pro-
duction rose by 4.1 per cent to a new record level of 79.1
million tons in 2011. Production of man-made cellulose
fibers also reached an all-time high of 4.6 million tons,
up 4.2 per cent from 2010.
The business development of the Segment Fibers in
2011 was characterized by strong demand for Lenzing
fibers, which was fuelled even more by record cotton
prices in the first half of the year. The market for stand-
ard textile viscose fibers significantly cooled off in the
second half of the year, which did not impact fiber ship-
ment volumes but affected selling prices.
The specialty fibers Lenzing Modal and
TENCEL as well as the nonwovens sector
were hardly impacted by this develop-
ment. Throughout the year Lenz-
ing succeeded in raising average
prices for all Lenzing fibers by
close to 17 per cent compared
to the previous year, to EUR
2.22 per kg.
“All our fiber production
facilities were running at
full capacity throughout
the year. The additional
fiber volumes generated in
the course of the year by the
second expansion stage of the
plant in Nanjing (China), the
capacity expansion for Lenzing
Modal fibers produced at the Len-
zing site and TENCEL fibers manu-
factured at the Heiligenkreuz (Burgen-
land) facility were very successfully placed
on the market”, reports Chief Operating Officer
fiber