ProViscose and ProModal: new fibre types with a touch of Lyocell

For Lenzing AG the development of these new fibre blends of Modal /Lyocell and viscose/Lyocell marks another step forward in the company’s aim to concentrate on high-quality special fibres which already account for more than 50 % of the production capacity of Lenzing AG. „We believe that ProViscose and ProModal offer the textile market new opportunities. The addition of Lyocell to Modal and viscose fibres helps to simplify further processing for the textile industry and clearly improves product and easy-care properties (User-Economics) for the end consumer“, Jochen Werz, member of the Board of Directors, is convinced. „We are in a position to introduce yarns and fabrics made of these fibre blends to the textile market within a short space of time since we co-operate closely with our Austrian customers as well as being close in geographical terms “.

New branding strategy for new fibre blends

When it comes to introducing ProModal and ProViscose to the market, Lenzing is promoting a new branding strategy: the fibre blends are introduced to the market as separate brands with a seal of quality.

„It was a logical step for Lenzing to develop these fibre blends since we are the only fibre manufacturer in the world to manufacture three types of cellulose fibres in one and the same company“, Dr. Franz Raninger, member of the Board of Directors, comments. „With our range of blended types we are in a position to offer the textile industry all of the positive fibre properties inherent in our individual products. An important advantage in this context: ProViscose and ProModal can be processed without any problems on conventional machines.

Austrian spinning mills see interesting market opportunities for these new fibres from Lenzing and have already converted them into yarns.

Linz Textil: Innovative new products are part of our strategy

Linz Textil, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of viscose yarns, see ProModal as an interesting and innovative product which represents a valuable new addition to the existing product range. “Our company operates all over the world, we are always interested in new developments to supply our customers with new materials. Development work is of utmost importance to us since our aim is to guarantee top quality“, Frowald Hickersberger, sales manager of Linz Textil, explains. A development programme has been started with leading European knitting mills: customers asked to assess these qualities delivered a very positive response. Hickersberger sees ProModal as an attractive and above all versatile product with the ability to satisfy the end-consumer by virtue of its improved care properties.

Spinnerei Feldkirch: ProModal stimulates the market

Werner Jochum, sales manager of the spinning mill Feldkirch, is of the opinion that Profibres have a very promising future. As far as he is concerned these fibres can be processed with ease and with them he is in a position to guarantee his customers top yarn qualities. Jochum believes that fibre blends from Lenzing will stimulate the market and his expectations of ProModal are very high. In his opinion these new fibre blends will make life easier for customers since the homogeneous blend guarantees trouble-free further processing.
One of his most important customers, the shirt fabric manufacturer F.M. Haemmerle from Voralberg, are already backing ProModal. Haemmerle stocks the new fabrics in extravagant variations with cotton, polyester and polyamide. As far as Paul-Alain Chaudet, manager of F.M. Haemmerle is concerned these blends are very trendy. Haemmerle has already had success with Modal and Lyocell fibres from Lenzing. „By combining these two fibres, softness and strength are joined together and they represent a harmonious and attractive part of the Haemmerle collection“.

Borckenstein AG: Positive response from customers

The very first product developments with direct customers, with the French fabric manufacturers Decouvelaere leading the way, confirm the much higher tenacity and better washability of viscose products. „We are positive that the new fibre type ProViscose will have great opportunities in the future and we are positive that this fibre will satisfy the ever increasing demands of the textile market“, Manfred Kern, sales manager at Borckenstein & Söhne, comments on the company’s initial experience with Profibres from Lenzing.

Spinnerei Freistadtl: Improvements in the finished textile

Spinnerei Freistadtl, an important customer of Lenzing AG, has also taken up the idea of ProFibres. The owner of the company, Johannes Roth, has a very positive attitude towards these new fibres since they offer better performance products in the end product. "We plan to include ProModal and ProViscose in our programme since fashion is virtually crying out for new and improved fibres. We know how the textile market works since we operate in three different segments: as a spinning mill, textile retailer and textile wholesaler e.g. as an importer of LaCoste garments. We deal with the textile chain as a whole so we know what the end-consumer wants and we feel sure that ProFibres will produce improvements in the finished textile which consumers will be unable to refuse."