From the Sector

DyStar, a specialty chemical company with a heritage of more than a century in product development and innovation, is announcing the sale of its auxiliary manufacturing site located at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Oakland Polymers Pty Ltd, a local manufacturer, has acquired DyStar’s manufacturing facility and will take over the site to expand their polymer business. Under the sale and purchase agreement, DyStar divested the entire facility, which is approximately 12,000 sqm, to Oakland Polymers and Oakland Properties. DyStar Africa’s operations will continue to lease part of the premises from Oakland for office and warehousing use.

Mr. Xu Yalin, Managing Director, and President of DyStar Group said, “The sale of the manufacturing site at DyStar Africa is part of our ongoing efforts to reconsolidate our business resources in Turkey, Africa & Middle East (TAME) region, with a focus on improving productivity and utilization rates.”

As a result of the acquisition, all employees at the manufacturing site have already been informed. Compensation packages are offered to affected colleagues as well.

Customers have also been informed of undisrupted supply to their orders during the transition period and are further assured of a seamless customer journey going forward when the acquisition is completed.

Trevira CS is exhibiting for the first time at CSI Miami (Cruise Ship Interiors Design Expo Americas). Taking place on 6 – 7 June, 2023 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, CSI will bring together buyers and suppliers involved in cruise ship interiors, including interior designers, architects, outfitters, shipyards and suppliers.
 
On the Trevira CS stand, visitors can get an idea of the wide range of flame retardant fabrics suitable for use on board cruise ships. 53 fabrics from 20 Trevira CS customers will be on display that either have IMO certification and/or have been tested to the fire safety standards (FTP Code) required in the marine sector. Trevira CS fabrics are inherently flame retardant, meaning that their flame retardant properties cannot be washed out or lost through aging or use. This is due to the chemical structure of the polyester fiber: the flame retardant properties are firmly anchored in the fiber and cannot be altered by external influences. A surface-applied flame retardant finish is therefore not necessary.

In the marine sector, the demands placed on textiles are not only high in terms of fire protection, but also with regards to light resistance and durability. This is particularly true for textiles used in outdoor applications. These must be extremely robust, as they are exposed to moisture and sunlight. To meet these requirements, Trevira CS has launched a range of 30 new spun-dyed, UV-stable filament yarns. Besides color depth and durability, spun-dyed yarns offer another advantage: They are more sustainable because the fabrics made from them can be produced in a more environmentally friendly way than textiles that are dyed in one piece or consist of brightly colored yarns. In fabric production, a large share of resource consumption goes to the dyeing and finishing of fabrics as well as the use of chemicals and water. However, with spun-dyed yarns, these processing steps are unnecessary – the yarn immediately comes out of the spinneret in the desired color, reducing the products’ environmental impact.

The topic of sustainability is also taken up in other Trevira CS products. For example, Trevira CS fabrics are available in recycled versions. They consist of fiber and filament yarns obtained in different recycling processes. Filament yarns are produced using recycled PET bottles, they contain 50% post-consumer recycled material. Recycled fibers are obtained using an agglomeration plant and in further processing steps from residual pre-consumer waste from production. They consist of 100% recycled material (pre-consumer recycling). All flame retardant recycled Trevira® products are GRS (Global Recycled Standard) certified.
Fabrics made from these yarns are marked with the Trevira CS eco trademark. The prerequisite for this is a recycled content of at least 50%. Among the fabrics presented at the Trevira CS trade fair stand are 8 fabrics bearing the Trevira CS eco brand.

The long-term goal in developing sustainable products is undoubtedly to enter a circular economy. For this new path, an innovative Trevira CS product development was launched, producing flame retardant fibers and filament yarns from chemically recycled raw material. In this case, the basic raw material for the chemical recycling was PET bottles, but essentially it could be most any other PET recyclables, such as packaging material or even textiles. Chemical recycling involves depolymerization, a sequence of chemical reactions in which the polymer chains are broken down again into their original components, i. e. the monomers. In a further processing step, impurities are removed. Before the polymerization process is initiated, a small amount of MEG (mono ethylene glycol) is added.

The same technology used to produce the original (virgin) raw material for Trevira CS is also used here. The flame retardant modification is added during polymerization. In this way, the flame retardant properties are indelibly anchored in the polymer.

By recycling valuable materials such as packaging material, waste can be avoided. The raw material obtained from the recycling process is comparable to the original material can be used again in high-quality products.

Candour Techtex, a Melegaon JR Group company, is satisfied with the latest coating and lamination line supplied by UK’s Amba Projex and has ordered a second, wider one to meet increasing demand.

Based in High Peak near Manchester, BTMA member Amba Projex has over 40 years’ experience in the design and manufacture of special purpose technical textile machines, with coating and laminating installations around the world.

Amba will be working closely with Candour over the next five years, to establish an Indian technical textiles powerhouse capitalising on the UK technology provider’s long experience in the field.

Formerly Chandni Textiles Engineering Industries, Candour Techtex of the Malegaon JR Group assumed its new name in 2022 to reflect its focus on a wide range of technical textiles at its new plant in Malegaon in the Nashik District of Maharashtra.

The company was founded in 1986 and at its existing plant in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, produces an annual 1.2 million metres of light velvet fabrics mainly for the domestic market for apparel and light home furnishings. In 2020 it also began operations at a plastic moulded components division in Gonde, Nashik, with a capacity of 4,500 tons per annum.

Blackout fabrics
In particular, the new Amba Projex system enables blackout fabrics to be produced efficiently and at scale.

Blackout fabrics are installed in rooms where complete light shielding is required, such as in public institutions like hospitals, and retirement homes, in hotels and conference rooms, and also in the home, especially in bedrooms.

They obtain their light impermeability by a special three-layer blackout coating which works on textiles of all colours. Only the middle layer of the three coatings needs to be black for obtaining the necessary light absorption. The fabrics are usually also treated for permanent flame-retardancy, and also with water or stain-repellent finishes. In addition to locking out light and providing maximum privacy, blackout curtains also help to insulate a home and reduce energy costs, in addition to protecting furniture and carpets from fading due to sunlight exposure.

With four months until the technical textiles and nonwovens show opens its doors, floor space booked by international suppliers is already more than double the area of the previous edition, which attracted 366 exhibitors from eight countries and regions. Taking place from 19 – 21 September 2023 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, this year’s fair will see the European Zone return to the fairground. The high-traffic zone is set to welcome a number of new and returning exhibitors eager to showcase their products to a business-hungry domestic market.

Speaking at the fair’s previous edition in 2021, Mr Roberto Galante, Plant Manager of FMMG Technical Textiles (Suzhou) Co Ltd, said: “The Chinese market is a big opportunity for everybody, because every day the market is demanding more. The potential here is incredible, and there is more demand for overseas brands. These brands are known for their very high quality, and while China’s industry has developed very well in the past few years, it still needs support from overseas brands with high quality products. This fair is good for us, and we exhibit here every year.”

Multiple domestic and international exhibitors have confirmed their participation at Cinte Techtextil China 2023, with the European Zone playing host to FMMG and other key industry players, such as:

• Bekaert, Belgium
• Fil Man Made Group, Italy
• SANITIZED, Switzerland
• SCANTECH, France

Outside the European Zone, additional international suppliers will showcase their diverse product applications at the fairground, with categories including Coating & Bondtec (Stahl); Fibre & Yarn (Barnet); Nonwovens Equipment (Dilo); Technology & Machinery (Picanol); and Testing Equipment & Certification (TESTEX). Other European exhibitors in these categories include Autefa Solutions, Reifenhauser Heinsberg, Reifenhauser Reicofil, and SICAM.

Chinese suppliers set to complement international contingent
A comprehensive range of domestic exhibitors are eager to meet new buyers and renew old business connections at this year’s fair, including:

• Shanghai Shenda Kebao New Materials
• SIJIA New Material (Shanghai)
• Zhejiang Jinda New Materials
• Zhejiang Hailide New Material

The fair’s product categories cover 12 application areas, which comprehensively span a full range of potential uses in modern technical textiles and nonwovens. These categories also cover the entire industry, from upstream technology and raw materials providers to finished fabrics, chemicals and other solutions. This scope of product groups and application areas ensures that the fair is an effective business platform for the entire industry.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) and Carbios, a biotech company developing and industrializing biological solutions to reinvent the life cycle of plastic and textiles, announce the signing of a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a Joint Venture for the construction of the world’s first PET biorecycling plant in France.  

Based on and subject to the comprehensive terms set out in the MOU, Indorama Ventures plans to mobilize about €110 million for the Joint Venture in equity and non-convertible loan financing , pending final engineering documentation and final economic feasibility studies. Both parties have acknowledged their mutual support for the implementation of the project and their intent to finalize contract documentation before end 2023.

Subject to the successful performance of this first plant in France, Indorama Ventures confirms its intention to potentially expand the technology to other PET sites for future developments.

Under the agreement signed June 1, Carbios, which filed for plant permitting in December 2022, should acquire 13ha land from Indorama Ventures’ existing PET plant at Longlaville and expects to be granted permits by Q3 2023, allowing start of construction by end of 2023 and targeted commissioning in 2025.  The land surface offers the possibility to double capacity. Pursuant to this MOU, Indorama Ventures shall ensure 100% of output repolymerization and both partners shall collaborate to secure feedstock supply.

The total capital investment for the new plant is re-estimated to be around €230 million, taking into account recent impact from inflation. Project costs shall be financed by the sums mobilized by Indorama Ventures, the French State and Grand-Est Region subsidies available for the project , and by equity capitalization of the Joint Venture by Carbios. Part of Carbios’ equity injection into the Joint Venture shall be financed by a portion of Carbios’ current cash position (i.e. €86 million as of 30 April 2023). Carbios is actively examining the best options to finance its remaining equity injection into the Joint Venture and will choose the most appropriate solution and timeline based on market conditions.

The project is part of Indorama Ventures’ Vision 2030 ambition to build on its leadership as a global sustainable chemical company. The company’s ESG commitments include spending $1.5 billion to increase its recycling capacity to 50 billion PET bottles per year by 2025 and 100 billion bottles per year by 2030. To meet these goals, Indorama Ventures, the world’s largest producer of recycled PET resin used in beverage bottles, is investing in new recycling technologies, including advanced recycling, in addition to expanding its global footprint of mechanical recycling sites, including two in France.

Carbios has developed a disruptive enzymatic depolymerization technology that enables efficient and solvent-free recycling of PET plastic and textile waste into virgin-like products with an aim to achieve true circularity. Carbios has ambitious plans to become a leading technology provider in advanced recycling of PET by 2035. After successful ongoing operations in its demonstration plant in Clermont-Ferrand in France, Carbios has been collaborating with Indorama Ventures for over a year to assess the commercial and technical feasibility of the technology. The world’s first industrial-scale enzymatic PET recycling plant at Longlaville will have a capacity to process about 50,000 tons of post-consumer PET waste per year, including waste that is not recyclable mechanically, equivalent to 2 billion PET colored bottles or 2.5 billion PET trays.

wet-green GmbH announced today that it has earned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Biobased Product Label for wet-green® OBE 1 tanning agent for Olivenleder®.

wet-green® OBE 1 is made of 100% biobased raw materials coming from by-products of olive growing, covered by a global patent. wet-green® OBE 1 is applied as a pre-tanning agent and replaces standard tanning technologies e.g. Chromium, Glutaraldehyde, Zeolites etc., is non-corrosive, metal-free, free of synthetic reactive tanning chemicals, formaldehyde-free, glutaraldehyde-free, bisphenol-free, syntan free, viscous, pumpable and pleasant smelling. wet-green® OBE 1 is the next generation vegetable tanning agent suitable for a wide range of leather articles and applied since many years in areas e.g. automotive, upholstery, garments, shoes and accessories.

The wet-green® tanning agent for Olivenleder® can now display a USDA label that highlights its percentage of biobased content. Third-party verification for a product's biobased content is administered through the USDA BioPreferred® Program, which strives to increase the development, purchase, and use of biobased
products.

Biobased products help address climate change by offering renewable alternatives to petroleum-based products; sequester carbon dioxide, lowering the concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere that contribute to climate change; create and expand markets; are generally safer for people and the environment than their petroleum-based counterparts; and represent incredible technological advances and innovations.

To ensure that our four-legged pets are looked after in terms of product safety, quality and durability of their cuddly blankets, cushions or favorite toys, the testing service provider Hohenstein has established its quality label Tested Pet Supplies. In May 2023, Markus Tiemann, Hohenstein Global Head of Retail, had the pleasure of handing over the first quality certificate of its kind to Bernd Brunssen, Head of Quality Assurance at Carstensen Import Export Handelsgesellschaft mbH, located near Hamburg.

The bar for quality products is set high at the globally networked importer and distributor, and the company accordingly commissioned product-testing with Hohenstein testing laboratory from its existing range of dog cushions, toys for dogs and cats, pet transport boxes and food balls for dogs and cats.

The label is designed for the entire range in pet supplies, from chew toys to pet beds, with special attention to the high requirements for textiles. It provides consumers with clear product information on product safety, quality and durability, and also offers pets and their owners security against unwanted residues of chemical substances. Markus Tiemann adds, "To ensure that our four-legged darlings feel completely at ease, we can, depending on the intended use also include additional tests for example chew resistance, scratch resistance, outdoor suitability, water repellency, waterproofness or air permeability and include these in the claim, alongside standard tests."

• Reactive dyes for water and energy saving dye processes with significantly shortened process time

BEZAKTIV ONE covers a broad color spectrum with tinctorial very strong dyes. This enables a cost-efficient dye process with significantly less dye and salt. The excellent wash-off behavior allows short rinse cycles at lower temperatures and therefore offers further ecological and economic advantages. The dyes are particularly suitable for durable textiles due to their good multiple wash fastness.

Cellulosic fibers are often dyed with reactive dyes, as these are commercially available in a wide range of colors that result in dyeings with high wash fastness. However, reactive dyeings require a lot of water due to the necessary rinsing processes. Due to increased ecological requirements, the development of energy and water saving processes is not just a trend, but rather a core prerequisite for new dyes.

A minimal number of rinsing baths and generally lower temperatures for dye exhaust, rinsing and soaping contribute to an overall efficient water and energy saving dyeing processes.

BEZAKTIV ONE dyes can be dyed, rinsed and soaped between 40 and 60 °C. Therefore, the BEZAKTIV ONE exhaust dyeing process is significantly shorter compared to conventional reactive dyeing processes, where temperatures between 60 and 98 °C are required. This advantage means savings in process time and higher productivity for the textile dyer.

The advantages become particularly clear when dyeing medium to dark shades with the BEZAKTIV ONE process. Due to the high fixation level in combination with good color build-up dark shades can be matched with lower dye concentrations of BEZAKTIV ONE than with conventional bifunctional reactive dyes. The addition of the auxiliary COTOBLANC SEL in the second soap bath has an additional positive effect, so that a washing process with low water and energy consumption generates excellent wet fastness properties on the textile.

The shareholders of SGL Carbon SE approved all agenda items at the Annual General Meeting on May 9, 2023. The Annual General Meeting, which was held virtually, was attended by up to 114 electronically connected shareholders who, together with the postal votes submitted, represented 64.64% of the share capital.

CEO Dr. Torsten Derr began his speech with a review of SGL Carbon's two-year transformation phase. "In two years, we have been able to increase our sales by 23.5% and adjusted EBITDA by as much as 86.2%. In parallel, we reduced our debt by 40.4%," Dr. Derr elaborated. He also reported on the past financial year and the expectations for the future economic development of the company. In doing so, he also addressed SGL Carbon's growth markets in detail. "Over the past two years, we have made SGL fit for the future. With our products, we serve industries that significantly reflect the trends for the future: climate-friendly mobility, renewable energies and digitalization," he explained.

After 14 years on the Supervisory Board of SGL Carbon, this was Dr. h.c. Susanne Klatten's last Annual General Meeting as Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board. She had already informed the Company on February 14, 2023, that she would be leaving the Board at the end of this Annual General Meeting. As the largest shareholder, Dr. h.c. Klatten will remain associated with SGL Carbon through SKion GmbH.

As proposed, the Annual General Meeting elected Prof. Dr. Frank Richter as a shareholder representative on the Supervisory Board to succeed Dr. h.c. Susanne Klatten. Following the Annual General Meeting, the constituent meeting of the Supervisory Board elected Prof. Dr. Richter as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Prof. Dr. Richter is Managing Director of SKion GmbH, Bad Homburg, which holds a stake of approximately 28.55% in SGL Carbon SE. Furthermore, Ingeborg Neumann, Managing Partner of Peppermint Holding GmbH, Berlin, was elected to the Supervisory Board of SGL Carbon SE for a further term of office.

The textile machinery orders index for the first quarter of 2023, as processed by the Economics Office of ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, declined markedly compared to January-March 2022 (-35%). In absolute terms, the index stood at 84.8 points (basis: 2015=100).

This result is mainly due to a reduction in the orders intake recorded by manufacturers on foreign markets. Indeed, foreign orders dropped by 40%, whereas the domestic market showed a 14% increase. The absolute value of the index settled at 78.3 points abroad, while it measured in at 148.1 points in Italy. During this year’s first quarter, booked orders stood at 4.2 months of guaranteed production.

ACIMIT president Alessandro Zucchi stated that, “The order index for the first quarter confirm a trend of the past few quarters, where uncertainty still predominates in global markets, both in terms of a macroeconomic framework that is characterized by a penalizing inflationary trend and ongoing geopolitical tensions. This is a scenario that this does not facilitate investment plans for businesses.”

However, this uncertainty does not appear to affect the sector’s operators, who are nonetheless permeated by a sense of optimism, as is also testified by the positive data drawn from a comparison with orders from the previous quarter (October-December 2022), for which total orders had been slightly on the rise at +3%. Indeed, the president of ACIMIT confirms that, “Manufacturers in our sector don’t lack for work, having filled up on orders last year and are now busy fulfilling them. The forecasts for 2023 remain positive”. Zucchi concluded, “I expect this confirmation of a healthy manufacturing sector to come from ITMA Milan, the world’s premier trade show dedicated to textile and clothing technologies, slated to open on June 8th at the Rho Fiera exhibition spaces. The exhibit will feature over 400 Italian manufacturers, taking up approximately 30% of the entire exhibition space. This figure is in itself a result that confirms the leadership role of Italy’s textile machinery manufacturers”.