Funding approved: Textile Factory 7.0 to be built in Mönchengladbach

Textile Factory 7.0 – the vision of a networked, emission-free industrial park of the future for the city of Mönchengladbach is becoming reality. The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) has approved funding for the project.

The aim of the project is to establish a technology and development centre in Mönchengladbach and thus develop an industrial park of the future. Instead of considering individual technologies in isolation, Textile Factory 7.0 combines energy efficiency, AI/robotics and biotechnology in a single functional textile real-world laboratory under the close cooperation of industry and research.

The project will make a decisive contribution to sustainably increasing the attractiveness and productivity of regional textile production: the T7 Factory will create new jobs and strengthen innovative textile research at the location.

Lenzing AG: Majority owner of TreeToTextile AB, accelerating industrialization of new fibers

The Lenzing Group is taking another strategic milestone by acquiring a controlling majority in the Swedish innovation company TreeToTextile AB. This step strengthens Lenzing’s position as a leading provider of sustainable, wood based specialty fibers and expands its innovation pipeline with a highly scalable, patent protected technology platform. The transaction is executed through the issuance of new shares. 

TreeToTextile represents the next major technological leap in cellulosic fiber production – following the development of viscose in the early 20th century and Lenzing’s own Lyocell technology in the 1990s. The process offers a significantly improved sustainability profile, attractive cost advantages, and broad applicability across textile and nonwoven markets. With the majority acquisition, Lenzing underscores its commitment to consistently advancing its premiumization strategy and further expanding its leadership position in the global specialty fiber market. 

Rieter Completes Acquisition of Barmag

Rieter has successfully completed the acquisition of Barmag as of February 2, 2026. This strategically important acquisition makes Rieter the world’s leading system provider for natural and synthetic fibers. 

Barmag will be consolidated as of February 2, 2026, and integrated into the Rieter Group as the “Man-Made Fiber” Division. The management of Barmag will remain with the company. Georg Stausberg will continue to lead the division and report to Thomas Oetterli, CEO of Rieter. At the same time, he will join the Group Executive Committee.

The transaction is financed by the capital increase completed in October of last year as well as by long-term bank loans. In addition to substantial cash reserves in its operating units, Rieter also has a significantly increased revolving credit facility at its disposal.

adidas: Record Revenues in 2025 and Launch of Share Buyback

adidas announced preliminary results for the fourth quarter of 2025. In Q4, currency-neutral revenues for the adidas brand increased 11%. Including Yeezy sales in the prior year (2024: around € 50 million), currency-neutral revenues increased 10%. In euro terms, revenues reached € 6,076 million in the quarter (2024: € 5,965 million). The company’s gross margin improved 1.0 percentage points to 50.8% (2024: 49.8%), while operating profit more than doubled to € 164 million (2024: € 57 million).

Modern Testing Methods for Raw Cotton

The 38th International Cotton Conference Bremen will take place from 25 to 27 March 2026 at the Bremen Parliament. The program will focus on technical innovations, market trends, and regulatory frameworks across the entire value chain – from agriculture to the circular economy. As well on the focus of high-profile speakers: Cotton quality and testing methods 

Raw cotton from different areas of production varies considerably in terms of fibre properties, thus directly influencing how well cotton can be spun into yarn and how textiles behave in further processing. Innovative testing methods enable assessing each bale reliably and reproducibly according to defined quality parameters. The aim is to make cotton qualities comparable, as this is a key prerequisite for global trade, pricing and reliable supply chains. Quality and quality testing are the historical focus of the Bremen conference. 

Kelheim Fibres closes operations as of 31 March 2026

The management of Kelheim Fibres GmbH informs that business operations will be terminated as of 31 March 2026. A continuation of the company beyond this date is not possible. 

The investor and sales process conducted within the framework of the self-administration did not lead to a positive outcome. The potential strategic investor who most recently entered the process has withdrawn from a potential investment at short notice. Independently of this, despite the support of a large proportion of customers and restructuring measures already implemented, it was not possible to achieve sufficient off-take volumes that would have been required for an economically viable continuation of business operations. This also included the absence of orders from a key customer. 

Following completion of the ongoing run-out production, the necessary measures to initiate an orderly shutdown process will be implemented. 

Three ANDRITZ spunlace lines for Alar Silk Road New Materials in China

Alar Silk Road New Materials and ANDRITZ have successfully commissioned three spunlace lines in crosslapped configuration at Alar’s facility in Aral City, Xinjiang, China.

The new lines strengthen Alar’s capacity to produce high-quality nonwovens and support the development of a more resource-efficient and sustainable ecosystem for the region’s hygiene and medical industries.

The neXline spunlace lines from ANDRITZ process viscose and/or cotton fibers to produce nonwoven fabrics that meet stringent quality requirements for hygiene and medical end uses. The lines deliver excellent web uniformity, strong tensile properties, and high production rates, enabling Alar to meet the growing market demand. The latest Profile™ crosslappers help reduce operating costs by ensuring even fiber distribution. 

ANDRITZ will continue to support Alar in further advancing its operations. The two companies plan to deepen their cooperation in innovation, digitalization, and energy efficiency to implement Alar’s goals and contribute to sustainable industrial development in the Xinjiang region.

Exchange data between textile companies without a central platform

The Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen University has launched a new demonstrator for an open and secure data space in the textile industry at the Digital Innovation Centre Europe (DICE). For the first time, the demonstrator shows directly and clearly how companies can share their data securely with each other without the need for a central platform. Data exchange is based on shared, freely usable technical foundations.

The participating companies thus share important information about materials, processes or supply chains directly. This increases transparency and helps, for example, with sustainability assessments, traceability or compliance with legal requirements. At the same time, companies retain control over their data at all times.

What is new and special is that, for the first time, the data room can be experienced in practice – not just as a concept on paper. Using real data and real processes, the demonstrator shows how secure data exchange works in the textile industry.

Alchemie partners with Acatel: Precision jet dyeing at industrial scale

BTMA member Alchemie Technology, the pioneer of precision jet dyeing solutions based in Cambridge, UK, is partnering with Acatel, the Portuguese leader in sustainable textile manufacturing.

The two companies will work together to validate and optimise Alchemie’s Endeavour system for knitted cellulosic fabrics. 

Endeavour enables dye houses to eliminate energy and CO2 emissions by up to 85%, achieve chemistry savings of up to 30%, and reduce water usage by up to 95% compared to traditional methods. The proprietary liquid application solution combines a large droplet size and high droplet velocity to deliver unrivalled penetration and precision into a textile fabric. 

R&D programme
As part of the collaboration, Alchemie and Acatel will run a twelve-month R&D programme to prepare the technology for large-scale manufacturing and demonstrate how the fully electric, non-contact dyeing process can replace conventional dyeing routes.

Monforts Pakistani customers make strong showing at Heimtextil 2026

Monforts dyeing and finishing technology customers from Pakistan had a successful presence at the Heimtextil 2026 home and contract textiles exhibition which attracted over 48,000 visitors to Frankfurt in Germany this month (January 13-16).

They included key home furnishings suppliers such as Crestex, Faisal, Gohar, and Kausar Processing, all based in the Faisalabad region of the country, Karachi-based Al Karam, Adamjee, Liberty, Lucky and Rainbow, and Kohinoor, Nishat Chunian and Sapphire of Lahore.