From the Sector

International technology group ANDRITZ has started the 2023 business year with unchanged high growth dynamics despite a slowing global economy. Revenue and operating result both increased significantly by well over 20 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same period of the previous year. Net income improved by almost 50 percent to 104.5 million euros (MEUR). Order intake reached a favorable level of 2.4 billion euros but was 6.5 percent below the figure for the first quarter of 2022, when the booking of two large-scale orders had provided a peak.

The key financial figures developed as follows during the reporting period:

• Order intake amounted to 2,420.2 MEUR and was thus 6.5% below the high level of the previous year’s reference period (Q1 2022: 2,588.6 MEUR), which included two large-scale orders. The Metals business area was able to increase its order intake significantly compared to the previous year’s reference period.
• The order backlog as of March 31, 2023 amounted to 10,407.8 MEUR and has thus increased compared to 2022 (December 31, 2022: 9,976.5 MEUR).
• Revenue at 1,962.6 MEUR was 28.5% higher than the reference figure for the previous year’s reference period (Q1 2022: 1,526.9 MEUR). All four business areas were able to significantly increase their revenue compared to the previous year.
• The operating result (EBITA) increased in line with revenue, reaching a very favorable level at 158.5 MEUR in the first quarter of 2023 (+29.6% versus Q1 2022: 122.3 MEUR). The Group’s profitability (EBITA margin) increased slightly to 8.1% (Q1 2022: 8.0%).
• Net income (without non-controlling interests) increased significantly to 104.5 MEUR (Q1 2022: 71.5 MEUR).

Following the successful first quarter, ANDRITZ confirms its previously published outlook for the full year 2023. Both revenue and earnings for the full year are expected to be above the level of 2022.

The international association that will manage the Single-Entry-Point (SEP) of the BIONANOPOLYS project has been formally constituted and will be able to support companies across the European Union in the market introduction of bionanomaterials through technical, legal, regulatory, safety, economic and financial support services.

The SEP was established as an AISBL (non-profit entity) on 17 February 2023 in the framework of the European project BIONANOPOLYS, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme. The technical director of ITENE and coordinator of this project, Carmen Sánchez, is the president of this association in which representatives of other project partners also act as directors. Specifically, the CTP (Centre Technique du Papier) from France; CIDAUT (Fundación para la Investigación y Desarrollo en Transporte y Energía), from Spain; CENTI (Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials), from Portugal, and the law firm Gil & Robles - San Bartolome & Associés, from Luxembourg.

The BIONANOPOLYS SEP will reduce the risks and barriers to the commercial exploitation of bio-based materials and polymeric bionanocomposites with nanotechnology and accelerate market penetration and innovation processes. SMEs, large companies, and potential customers who are users of the BIONANOPOLYS OITB (Open Innovation Test Bed) will be able to access the services offered by the project partners through this entity, which will act as a one-stop shop, at affordable costs and conditions.

The test bed consists of 14 enhanced pilot plants and complementary services to support technological and commercial breakthroughs. Collaboration between all the partners that make up BIONANOPOLYS and access through the SEP allows joint access to all the services offered by the partners and helps to drive collaborative open innovation.

Call for access to the BIONANOPOLYS OITB
The SEP and the project partners will be in charge of evaluating the projects submitted to the BIONANOPOLYS platform once the open call launched last February to select five projects from different European countries that will be able to access its services free of charge to develop, test or scale-up bionanomaterials in the BIONANOPOLYS OITB closes.

Companies wishing to access the services to develop or test nanomaterials can submit their applications until 30 April.

The BIONANOPOLYS test bed could benefit companies involved in the production of biopolymers, cellulose paper, nonwovens, foams, or coatings, as well as the packaging, agriculture, food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hygiene, textiles and 3D printing sectors.

adidas TERREX announces a multi-season collaboration with National Geographic, consisting of high-performance outdoor wear. The inaugural collection is built to celebrate the role of photography in the culture of outdoor sport - as well-equipped hikers turn their ability to explore more places, and spirit of adventure, into stunning content.

To celebrate this relationship, designers at adidas TERREX combed the National Geographic photography archives for stunning stills of some of the most remote yet moving locations on earth, integrated in unique all over prints in a bold new hiking collection. All pieces are unified by National Geographic’s iconic yellow icon.

Places celebrated in the collection include a snow-covered sandstone monocline in Comb Ridge, Utah, a 120-mile-long, north to south stretch that defines the State’s red rock landscape, as well as textured portraits of shale, - captured on the coast of Norway’s northernmost county - highlighting the sedimentary rock’s distinctive formations.

The 51-piece collection includes women’s, men’s, and gender-neutral offerings – all built to equip the wearer in multi-terrain environments:

• A part of the collection is the RAIN.RDY Jacket; a 2.5L waterproof and seam-sealed outer garment built to facilitate epic adventures. The men’s jacket features a bold print of the shell formations in the Porsanger Peninsula, Norway, while the women’s is inspired by stills of White Sands National Park in New Mexico.
• A long sleeve shirt is finished with the bold National Geographic yellow icon and reflective details.
• The TERREX Swift R3 GORE-TEX Hiking shoes offer the peak combination of a lightweight construction and cushioning as seen in trail running shoes with the stability of a hiking boot. Finished in a print inspired by a stunning aerial shot of Earth, the hiking shoes come with a GORE-TEX lining and membrane seal so water is kept out, and a Continental™ Rubber outsole for optimal grip in wet or dry conditions.
• The WIND.RDY: GET SHELTERED Jacket, with wind-resistant technology and a water repellent ripstop fabric, allows explorers to feel protected and confident in many weather conditions. The men’s and women’s versions come with bold prints inspired by photography including that of sandstone and snow at Comb Ridge, Utah. Smart design features including a bungee-cord enabled adjustable hem, a lightweight fabric and reflective details. Additionally, it features a bold new lenticular logo design that alternates between Terrex and National Geographic from different perspectives – and is made in part with recycled materials.

Carbios, a compnay in the development and industrialization of biological technologies for reinventing the life cycle of plastics and textiles, announces its operating and financial results for the year 2022. The financial statements as of December 31, 2022, were approved by the Company’s Board of Directors at their meeting on April 5, 2023.

• Project to build, in France, the world’s first PET biorecycling plant: Progress in line with 2025 unit commissioning target6
• Excellent results from the demonstration plant validating the industrial scale-up of Carbios technology
• Carbios licensing documentation ready for worldwide industrial and commercial deployment
• Long-term exclusive strategic partnership with Novozymes to ensure supply of enzymes at industrial scale for the Reference Unit and all future licensee plants
• Creation of fiber-to-fiber consortium with On, Patagonia, Puma, PVH Corp., and Salomon
• CE-PET research project successfully completed
• Participation in WhiteCycle project co-funded by Horizon Europe and coordinated by Michelin
• Publication of scientific articles in the prestigious Biophysical Journal and in Chemical Reviews
• Carbios hosts world’s first PET Biorecycling Summit
• Carbios publishes first Sustainability Report and outlines objectives for environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives
• Carbios joins Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s circular economy network
• €30 million European Investment Bank loan drawn down in 2022
• Group’s cash position of €101 million as of December 31, 2022

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Spring Edition is set for a renewal. After last year’s brief pause, 283 exhibitors from 5 countries and regions will showcase their latest innovations at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) during this traditional peak sourcing period. The fair will be held concurrently with Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition, Yarn Expo Spring, CHIC and PH Value from 28 – 30 March 2023.

Comprehensive range of products zoned for easy sourcing
The 27,000 sqm gross exhibition space in hall 5.2 will host suppliers in multiple product categories, such as bedding, towelling, table and kitchen linen, home textile technologies, and textile designs. Several product pavilions and zones will be formed to encourage efficient sourcing, with areas designated for quality bedding, towelling, feather and down duvet fillings, quilt fillings, intelligent equipment and upholstery fabric products. Buyers looking for sustainable fibres, yarns and fabrics may be interested in sourcing at the Lenzing Group’s brand new centralised Lenzing Home Textile Satellite Pavilion. With Lenzing joined by eight of its Chinese downstream manufacturers, the pavilion will showcase the various home textile applications for the Austrian company’s wood-based TENCEL™ fibres.

Other well-known international and domestic exhibitors include Cotton Council International (CCI), Zhangjiagang Coolist Life Technology, Guangdong Kulida Down, Wujiang City Yunjie Textiles, Yantai Pacific Home Fashion, Sunvim Group, and Jiangsu Goostars Hometextiles. These suppliers, and many more, will present their up-to-date products to meet the sourcing demands of buyers from different channels.

Programme
At every edition, Intertextile Shanghai Home Textile’s fringe events keep fairgoers informed on a variety of topics, allowing exhibitors and visitors alike to stay up to date with the latest market trends and make informed business decisions.

Aligning with the fair’s general direction on promoting sustainability, and to satisfy the industry’s needs, representatives from Lenzing will be holding an exclusive seminar about the e-commerce opportunities surrounding eco-friendly TENCEL™ products’ sleep enhancing qualities. Other presentations and discussions that touch on sustainability will also be available under the fair’s Textile & Technology event theme.

With consumers globally paying more attention to health issues and increasing their spending on health products, the home and contract textile industry is also a party to this rising trend. To this end, seminars discussing traditional Chinese medicine and how it relates to different health issues will be held on day one. Their crossover topics include how aromatherapy can encourage high-quality sleep, as well as an introduction on the innovation of traditional medicinal textiles.

Moreover, the well-known Chinese retailer JD.com will co-host an event that promotes home textile products made with Chinese cotton. Several talks will focus on different aspects, such as the products’ quality and the overall potential of this industry aided by government policies.

After China’s relaxation of border restrictions and other pandemic control measures, it is now easier for domestic and overseas buyers to visit their Chinese suppliers at the fairground, for the chance to touch and feel their desired products.

Alchemie Technology is the latest company to join the British Textile Machinery Association (BTMA), as all of the organisation’s members gear up to showcase an array of new innovations at ITMA 2023 in Milan from June 8-14 this year.

Cambridge-headquartered Alchemie is the inventor of two technologies – EndeavourTM and NovaraTM.

The Endeavour digital dyeing system produces no wastewater and reduces water consumption by up to 95% compared to traditional dyeing. The virtually waterless process delivers dyed fabric with high colour consistency and colour fastness and does not require post dyeing washing steps which leads to an energy reduction up to 85%. It can deliver any colour shade required and enables on-demand digital colour changeovers in any run length, from a few metres to several kilometres.

Similar energy savings can be achieved with the Novara precision finishing system which utilises a nozzle array to deliver finishing chemistry with millimetre resolution. Finishing chemistries penetrate deeply into the fabric due to the combination of high velocity liquid jetting and precisely-controlled vacuum and textile finishes are applied only where needed, reducing chemistry usage and enabling multi-functionality.

In the past year, Alchemie, backed by Swedish fashion giant H&M, has established a first demonstration hub at customer JSRTEX in Taiwan. It is now progressing plans to set up further centres at customer sites around the world.

Textile waste is a problem in Europe. Out of 7-7.5 million tonnes of textiles discarded every year, 30-35 % are collected separately – and of that quantity, 15-20 % are sorted by medium and larger sorting facilities within the EU. After sorting, 60 % still qualify as wearable clothes, however after a second or third collection-loop, all of the textiles become non-wearable sooner or later. Therefore, fibre-to-fibre recycling is becoming increasingly important to preserve the valuable resources.
 
The textile recycling value chain is not yet mature, but we are on the verge of a turning point, as different fibre-recycling technologies are deployed on a large scale. If successful, the textile recycling industry could reach a recycling rate of 18 to 26 percent of gross textile waste in 2030. This would create economic, social and environmental value that could total 3.5 to 4.5 billion euros in 2030.

Today, there is a sorting gap to achieve a circular economy for textiles in Europe. To feed this new circular value chain, a significant sorting-capacity increase is needed with 150 to 250 sorting and recycling facilities nearby, as the McKinsey-study “turning waste into value” assessed.

There is also a technology and capacity gap in sorting for reuse and recycling to ensure that high quality raw materials from non-wearable textile waste can be made available on a large scale. This is why the “Transform Textile Waste into Feedstock” project was initiated by TEXAID, within the ReHubs initiative together with well-known stakeholders of the textile value chain.

The major outcome of this project will be a sorting-factory blueprint fulfilling the requirements to the future needs of fibre-to-fibre recycling, enabling the future of more sustainable textiles by using recycled fibres. TEXAID, who is leading the project, is committed to build and operate scalable sorting facilities across Europe, the first with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes by the end of 2024.

Companies like Concordia, CuRe Technology, Decathlon, Inditex, Indorama Ventures, L’Atelier des Matières, Lenzing, Marchi & Fildi, PurFi, Södra, Worn Again and others are taking part in the project to jointly evaluate technologies and the business case for scaled sorting for reuse and recycling. ITA Academy GmbH (in cooperation with RWTH Aachen) together with CETIA has been commissioned for the assessment of technologies. The outcome will be an innovative sorting system 4.0, building on cross-functional technologies with digitalization and automation are at the heart.

• Sales of CHF 890.3 million in second half-year 2022
• EBIT margin of around 2% expected for full year 2022
• Order intake of CHF 1 157.3 million in 2022; order backlog of around CHF 1 540 million as of December 31, 2022
• Preparations for ITMA 2023 on schedule
• Implementation of action plan to increase sales and profitability ongoing
• Rieter site sales process on schedule

For Rieter, in addition to the geopolitical uncertainties, the 2022 financial year was characterized by three main challenges:
Due to the rapid rise in inflation, the exceptionally high order backlog of around CHF 1 840 million at the beginning of 2022 was processed at significantly higher costs. It was only possible to offset these higher costs in part by means of price increases and other remedial measures.

In order to safeguard deliveries, it was necessary to compensate for serious material bottlenecks, particularly in electronic components, which resulted in considerable additional development expenditure.

Major expenses were also incurred in connection with the acquired businesses (Accotex, Temco and Winder).

Sales
The realization of sales from the exceptionally high order backlog developed better than expected. With sales of CHF 1 510.9 million, Rieter achieved an increase of 56% compared with the previous year (2021: CHF 969.2 million). In the second half of 2022, especially in the fourth quarter, the measures introduced to address material bottlenecks had a positive impact. Consequently, sales increased to CHF 890.3 million compared with the first six months (first half-year 2022: CHF 620.6 million).

EBIT margin
The trend in the EBIT margin was strongly influenced by substantial cost increases, which could only be offset in part through price increases and other remedial measures. In addition, to compensate for material shortages, expenses were incurred in connection with the development of alternative solutions and the acquired businesses.

Rieter succeeded in improving profitability compared with the first half of 2022 due to the higher sales volume and offsetting measures to compensate for increased costs, and expects a positive EBIT margin of around 2% for the full year 2022 (2021: 4.9%).

Order intake
In line with expectations, the order intake of CHF 1 157.3 million in 2022 was below the record year of 2021 (CHF 2 225.7 million). The market situation is characterized by investment restraint due to geopolitical uncertainties, higher financing costs and consumer reticence in important markets.

Order backlog
The company had an order backlog of around CHF 1 540 million at the end of 2022, which thus extends well into 2023 and 2024. In 2022, Rieter recorded order cancellations of less than 10% of the order backlog of CHF 1 840 million at the beginning of the year.

Preparations for ITMA 2023 on schedule
Rieter has continued to boost its innovative capability and, in order to further extend its technology leadership, will present new innovative solutions at ITMA 2023 in Milan.

Action plan to increase sales and profitability
Implementation of the action plan to increase sales and profitability is ongoing. With regard to the profitability of the order backlog, which remains high, the implemented price increases in combination with a favorable trend in costs, particularly in logistics, are having an impact. In addition, progress was made in eliminating material bottlenecks and reducing expenses for the three acquired businesses.

Rieter site sales process
The sales process for the remaining land at the Rieter site in Winterthur (Switzerland) is proceeding according to plan. In total, around 75 000 m² of land will be sold. The Rieter CAMPUS is not part of this transaction.

Results press conference 2023
Rieter will provide further details on the 2022 financial year and an outlook for the 2023 financial year on March 9, 2023.

Fiery®, which provides Digital Front End (DFE) technology for production and industrial printing, announced that it has been separated from Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (“EFI”) and established as a separate company that will operate independently while remaining owned by EFI’s owner, Siris Capital Group LLC (together with its affiliates, "Siris").

Toby Weiss, long-time Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of Fiery, will continue to lead the business as CEO of Fiery, with Jeff Jacobson serving as Executive Chairman of Fiery in addition to his role as Executive Chairman of EFI.

“Fiery solutions have always been about enabling digital print and making print engines better, and this is a milestone in furthering that mission,” said Mr. Weiss. “Fiery OEM partners will benefit knowing that they are working with a company that is completely focused on adding value to their print platforms with world-class color management, high-performance image processing, and automated workflows.

“Fiery will remain focused on working closely with its OEM partners, including the EFI Inkjet business, to continue developing cutting-edge technology that drives the next generation of automation, accuracy, and profit potential in digital printing,” Mr. Weiss continued. “Fiery now has a greater ability to serve as a neutral partner to ensure OEMs capture success within digital print. We look forward to accelerating our investment as a standalone company, while driving our expanding product portfolio, incorporating world-class color algorithms, and developing advanced cloud technology.”

Fibre Extrusion Technology Limited (FET) of Leeds, England, a supplier of laboratory and pilot melt spinning systems, is celebrating a record breaking year of sales and product innovation. “Sales revenue for 2022 has easily beaten our previous high” said FET Managing Director, Richard Slack “and the research projects we have collaborated in have become increasingly challenging in terms of technical specification.”

Prestigious new projects during 2022 included a multifilament melt spinning line for Senbis Polymer Innovations, Netherlands enabling the development of textile fibres from recycled polymers or biopolymers; a FET-200LAB wet spinning system at the University of Manchester which will play a major part in advanced materials research in collaboration with the renowned Henry Royce Institute; and a FET-103 Monofilament line for RHEON LABS of London to help develop a hyper viscoelastic fibre from RHEON™ which displays high strain-rate sensitive properties. The latter two of these examples were aided by significant UK grants to develop advanced materials.

FET is now looking forward to 2023 with a record order book. The company’s newly opened Fibre Development Centre features over £1.5 million investment in customer laboratory systems that will further enable fibre trials and product R&D. Three new polymer types were developed with clients in 2022 and several more are lined up in 2023, which is expected to bring the total of different polymer types to more than 40 in multifilament, monofilament and nonwoven formats.

FET will be exhibiting at two major exhibitions in 2023; INDEX 23, a leading Nonwovens show at Geneva in April; and ITMA, Milan, an international textile and garment technology exhibition in June.