From the Sector

After two years of joint collaboration and research the Swiss Textile Recycling Project “Texcircle” comes to an end. Partners and stakeholders have worked on the vision of a textile cluster where materials flow in circular loops. The goal of the project was to develop high-quality yarns and products incorporating such a large amount of recycled textiles as possible. In the end, several product prototypes from carpets, socks, and curtains to pullovers, padding and accessories have been developed with at least 50 % recycled fiber up to 80 % recycled fibers and yarns.

Europe has a waste problem of 7.5 million waste of which only 30-35 % is collected and less than 1 % of the textile and clothing worldwide is recycled into textiles and clothing again. It is as well found that around 80 % of the impact of a textile product lies in the design.

Together with the design research expertise of the Lucerne University of Applied sciences and arts, the spinning expertise of Rieter and the sorting and collection expertise of Texaid, systems should be created where products of high quality can be produced of recycled fiber. On board were the expertise of further Cluster partners of Brands, Retailers, and the public sector to see how a joint Cluster and system coukld be established.

The Project Texcircle and cluster is led by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Art  & Design, and in collaboration with Coop, Rieter, Jacob Rohner AG, Ruckstuhl AG, TEXAID as well as workfashion.com ag. Furthermore, Bundesamt für Zivildienst ZIVI, NIKIN AG, and Tiger Liz Textiles are supporting the project. The project is funded by Innosuisse.

Furthermore, collaboration partners from all over Europe contributed to the project to enable these prototypes and systems.

Through joint developments from the design, the collecting, sorting trials, tearing, and spinning trials until the actual production trials and product testing. The partners were able to recycle 2.5 Tons of pre-and post-consumer textile waste into product prototypes with a promising commercial interest. From socks, west, and pullovers to non-woven felts and accessories to carpets and curtains. Through our 2 years of collaboration, the teamcame across several hurdles in the textile recycling value chain which could be tackled. This was a proof of concept that a circular system is possible and the industry now has to enable this at full scale.

RHEON LABS, a fast-growing materials technology company based in Battersea, London, has completed an extensive 6 month trial with FET, a world leader in laboratory and pilot meltspinning equipment. Backed by a £173,000 grant from Innovate UK for feasibility studies, RHEON LABS has further developed its RHEON™ technology, a reactive polymer that dynamically stiffens when subjected to force. The technology can control energy of any amplitude or frequency, from small vibrations to forces at ballistic-speeds and therefore has a wide range of applications.
 
This Innovate UK Smart Grant-backed project aims to develop a hyper viscoelastic fibre from RHEON™ which displays high strain-rate sensitive properties. Creating a fibre with unique strain-rate sensitive properties will be a world first. It will enable the creation of a 'breakthrough-generation' of stretch textiles that can actively absorb, dampen and control energy during movement, rather than simply acting as a spring.

For close-fitting activewear and sports bras, the ability to actively control muscle mass or soft tissue movement during exercise will be a game-changing advancement. It will allow brands to engineer garments that relax during everyday use but actively stiffen during exercise for improved support and performance.
The Innovate UK grant was awarded under the category of Hyper-Viscoelastic Fibre Extrusion for Textile Manufacture. Fibre Extrusion Technology Limited (FET) enabled the customer trials at its bespoke Fibre Development Centre in Leeds, England using its in-house FET-103 Monofilament meltspinning facilities, in harness with RHEON and FET technical operatives. The next phase will be to upscale the trials of preferred materials on RHEON’s own new FET-103 meltspinning line, with FET’s continued support and expertise on hand.
 
Creating a fibre with unique strain-rate sensitive characteristics could be as radical a change in the market as the initial introduction of stretch fibre with the launch of Lycra™. The textiles would have a multitude of beneficial properties and would provide significantly less compression in the garment than conventional materials, substantially improving user comfort, support and performance.

• Milliken purchases spinning plant from Gildan to strengthen internal yarn production

Milliken & Company, a diversified global manufacturer innovating in the textile, chemical, floor covering and healthcare industries, recently acquired one of the Frontier yarn plants in Mayodan, North Carolina, from Gildan. This plant acquisition expands Milliken’s open-end yarn production for its protective fabrics, workwear, government and defense, industrial, and napery textile business units.

The Frontier Spinning Plant #3, which will be renamed the Two Rivers Plant as a nod to its dedicated team and the community it serves, will become a spinning hub for Milliken. Multiple Milliken textile plants throughout the Southeast will source their yarn needs from the Two Rivers Plant.

“Adding this plant to the Milliken manufacturing footprint helps us meet current production needs and offers additional capacity for future growth,” says Kevin Brown, senior vice president of global operations for Milliken’s Textile Business. “The expansion helps us create a resilient supply chain that offers consistency and surety for both our product lines and customers.”

• Order intake of CHF 869.4 million, order backlog of more than CHF 2 100 million
• Sales of CHF 620.6 million, preproduced deliveries in the three-digit million range had to be postponed until the second half of 2022
• EBIT of CHF -10.2 million, net result of CHF -25.2 million due to significant cost increases, additional costs, and acquisition-related expenses
• Action plan to increase sales and profitability
• Rieter site Winterthur
• Outlook

Rieter continued to be successful in the market in the first half of 2022. Based on the company’s technology leadership, innovative product portfolio and the completion of the ring- and compact-spinning system, a high order intake and a significant increase in sales were generated. The increase in sales was achieved even though preproduced deliveries in the three-digit million range had to be postponed until the second half of 2022. The order backlog is at a record level. Despite higher sales, the significant increase in material and logistics costs, additional costs for compensation of the material shortages and the expenditure incurred for the acquisition in the years 2021/2022 resulted in a loss. Rieter is implementing an action plan to increase sales and profitability. The sales process for the remaining land owned by Rieter was initiated.

Order Intake and Order Backlog
Rieter posted an order intake of CHF 869.4 million, which included CHF 176.6 million from the businesses acquired in the years 2021/2022. As expected, demand has thus returned to normal compared with the exceptionally high figure for the prior-year period, but remains well above the average figure for the last five years of around CHF 570 million (first half 2021: CHF 975.3 million, first half 2022 excluding acquisition effect CHF 692.8 million).

The regional shift in demand with investments in additional spinning capacity outside China along with investments in the competitiveness of Chinese spinning mills continues. Rieter benefits from its technology leadership, the innovative product portfolio and the completion of the ring- and compact-spinning system through the acquisition of the automatic winding machine business. The largest order intakes came from India, Turkey, China, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan.

On June 30, 2022, the company had an order backlog of more than CHF 2 100 million (June 30, 2021: CHF 1 135 million). Cancellations in the reporting period amounted to around 5% of the order backlog.

Sales
The Rieter Group posted sales of CHF 620.6 million, which included CHF 68.9 million from the businesses acquired in the years 2021/2022 (first half 2021: CHF 400.5 million).

As a result, sales were significantly higher than in the prior-year period, although preproduced deliveries, which mainly affected the Business Group Machines & Systems, in the three-digit million range had to be postponed until the second half of 2022. The reasons for the postponements were the COVID lockdown in China and supply chain bottlenecks.

EBIT, Net Result and Free Cash Flow
Rieter posted a loss of CHF -10.2 million at the EBIT level in the first half of 2022.

Earnings were impacted by significantly higher material and logistics costs. The price increases already implemented are having a delayed effect, mainly in the Business Group Machines & Systems, and were therefore unable to compensate for the high increase in costs. In addition, costs in connection with material shortages negatively impacted profitability. The result also includes acquisition-related expenses of CHF -11.2 million.

The loss at the net result level was CHF -25.2 million, of which CHF -17.6 million was due to the acquisition.

Free cash flow was CHF -57.1 million, attributable to the build-up of inventories in connection with the high order backlog and postponed deliveries.

Action Plan to Increase Sales and Profitability
Rieter is implementing a comprehensive package of measures with the aim of increasing sales and profitability in the second half of 2022.

The package focuses on two main priorities: Firstly, Rieter is continuing to systematically implement price increases while working to improve the quality of margins of the order backlog, so as to compensate for cost increases in materials and logistics.
Secondly, Rieter is working closely with key suppliers and is developing alternative solutions to eliminate material bottlenecks, as far as possible, in order to safeguard deliveries.

Rieter Site Winterthur
The Board of Directors has decided to begin the process for the sale of the remaining land at the Rieter site in Winterthur (Switzerland). In total, around 75 000 m2 of land will be sold.

Outlook
As already reported, Rieter expects demand for new systems to normalize further in the coming months. Due to the capacity utilization at spinning mills, the company anticipates that demand for consumables, wear & tear and spare parts will remain at a good level.

For the full year 2022, due to the high order backlog and the consolidation of the businesses acquired from Saurer, Rieter expects sales of around CHF 1 400 million (2021: CHF 969.2 million). The reduced sales forecast compared to early 2022 (March 2022: CHF 1 500 million) reflects the impact of global supply bottlenecks. The realization of sales revenue from the order backlog continues to be associated with risks in relation to the well-known challenges.

Despite significantly higher sales, Rieter expects EBIT and net result for 2022 to be below the previous year’s level. This is due to the considerable increases in the cost of materials and logistics, additional costs for compensation of material shortages as well expenses in connection with the acquisition in the years 2021/2022. Despite the price increases already implemented, global cost increases continue to pose a risk to the growth of profitability.

• New yarns for the contract furnishing world, for industrial sewing threads and the challenge of biodegradable polyester

At the product level, big impulse has been given to the range of industrial sewing threads for various uses, with new references both in the polyester + polyester compositions as well as in cotton + polyester. The industrial threads, marketed as raw material, allow the company to consolidate its position on some strategic markets, such as in Germany.

As a result of the partnership with Trevira® for the spinning of the flame-retardant Trevira^®CS fibre, Filidea Technical Yarns reinforces its offer of non-dyed performant yarns aimed at the world of contract furnishings. The sector of hospitality, of furnishings for public and work spaces, fairs and areas for social-cultural gatherings will find a comprehensive answer to its demands in the Trevira^®CS-based yarns: with regard to fireproof standards, versatility, resistance to wear and tear, excellent colour rendering, and last but not least, the component of fibre sustainability, an essential value for the design of spaces for collective use.

Continuing in the development of sustainable production across the sector, the company has undertaken two important initiatives with other actors in the textile supply chain. Filidea participates in Trick, the European blockchain project – part of the European Horizon 2020 programme – involving 29 partners from six different nations to reinforce the circular economy thanks to the development of a digital platform which is complete, traceable and available to operators in the textile sector.

MagnoLab, the network of enterprises in the textile supply chain, and of which Filidea is one of the founding members, gives the impulse to constant R&D activities. MagnoLab was established in 2022 in order to develop tangible solutions for the sector, to create values and to collaborate with regard to current and future demands.

MagnoLab brings together textile companies which are active at various stages of and with complementary roles in the supply chain, and which work in synergy and share objectives, resourcefulness and long-sightedness, with the aim of developing innovation in a structured way. MagnoLab is also open to welcome new partners.

• Sustainable infrastructure solutions, road safety and health protection

At this year’s Techtextil, Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions will be presenting the trade audience with new applications, special processes and sustainable solutions focusing on the production of industrial textiles. Among other things, the company will be showcasing new technology for charging nonwovens that sets new standards with regards to quality and efficiency. Between June 21 and 24, the discussions will be concentrating on airbags, seat belts, tire cord, geotextiles, filter nonwovens and their diverse applications.

More polyester for airbags
Airbags have become an integral part of our everyday automotive lives. The yarns used in them are made predominantly from polyamide. As a result of increasingly diverse airbag applications and also the increasing size of the systems used, polyester is today used as well, depending on the application requirements and cost-benefit considerations. Against this background, the Oerlikon Barmag technologies make an invaluable contribution. In addition to high productivity and low energy consumption, they particularly excel in terms of their stable production processes. Furthermore, they comply with every high quality standard for airbags, which – as in the case of virtually all other textile products used in vehicle construction – must provide the highest level of safety for vehicle occupants. And all this without any loss of function in any climate and anywhere in the world for the lifetime of the vehicle.

Buckle up!
Seat belts play a decisive role in protecting vehicle occupants. They have to withstand tensile forces in excess of three tons and simultaneously stretch in a controlled manner in emergencies in order to reduce the load in the event of impact. A seat belt comprises approximately 300 filament yarns, whose individual, high-tenacity yarn threads are spun from around 100 individual filaments.

Invisible, but essential – road reinforcement using geotextiles
But it not just inside vehicles, but also under them, that industrial yarns reveal their strengths. Low stretch, ultra-high tenacity, high rigidity – industrial yarns offer outstanding properties for the demanding tasks carried out by geotextiles; for instance, as geogrids in the base course system under asphalt. Normally, geotextiles have extremely high yarn titers of up to 24,000 denier. Oerlikon Barmag system concepts simultaneously manufacture three filament yarns of 6,000 denier each. Due to the high spinning titers, fewer yarns can be plied together to the required geo-yarn titer in a more cost- and energy-efficient manner.

hycuTEC – technological quantum leap for filter media
In the case of its hycuTEC hydro-charging solution, Oerlikon Neumag offers a new technology for charging nonwovens that increases filter efficiency to more than 99.99%. For meltblown producers, this means material savings of 30% with significantly superior filter performance. For end users, the consequence is noticeably improved comfort resulting from significantly reduced breathing resistance. With its considerably lower water and energy consumption, this new development is also a future-proof, sustainable technology.

New high-tech Staple Fiber Technology Center
Extending to around 2,100 m2, Oerlikon Neumag in Neumünster is home to one of the world’s largest staple fiber technology centers. As of now, these state-of-the-art staple fiber technologies are also available for customer-specific trials.

The focus during the planning and the design of the Technology Center was on optimizing components and processes. Here, special attention was paid to ensuring the process and production parameters in the Technology Center system could be simply and reliably transferred to production systems. Here, the fiber tape processing line is modular in design. All components can be combined with each other as required. And comprehensive set-up options supply detailed findings for the respective process for various fiber products.

The Technology Center is also equipped with two spinning positions for mono- and bi-component processes. The same round spin packs are used for both processes, characterized by excellent fiber quality and properties and meanwhile very successfully deployed in all Oerlikon Neumag production systems. Furthermore, the spinning plant is complemented by automation solutions such as spin pack scraper robots, for example.

BB Engineering has been shortlisted for the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe 2022 for the category Recycling Machinery Innovation with its PET recycling line VacuFil® Visco+ for fiber-to-fiber inline recycling.

The process presented as part of the award is the combined VacuFil® Visco+ with VarioFil®. This machinery enables the textile industry to perform closed-loop inline recycling of post-consumer polyester (PET) textile waste. The given recycling technology is a thermo-mechanical recycling process optimized for the textile industry. Key component here is the liquid state polycondensation reactor, known as Visco+, to adjust the intrinsic viscosity. Compared to existing fiber recycling processes, which address rather less demanding textile applications and don’t include subsequent spinning, BBE’s solution is a whole-in-one process that enables the textile industry to perform closed-loop inline recycling of post-consumer PET fiber waste even into high-tech textile yarns with low dpf-values.

The Plastics Recycling Awards Europe 2022 winners will be announced on 23 June, during the second day of the Plastics Recycling Show Europe taking place at the RAI Amsterdam.

With the takeover of the automatic winding machine business at the Uebach-Palenberg/Germany site with effect from April 1, 2022, Rieter has completed the acquisition of the three businesses from Saurer.

The acquisition of the automatic winding technology in the premium category completes Rieter’s ring and compact-spinning system and thus lays the foundation to further improve the company’s position in the staple fiber market segment.

The components businesses Accotex (elastomer technology for spinning machines) at the Muenster/Germany site and Temco (technology components for filament machines) at the Hammelburg/Germany site had already been acquired by Rieter as of December 1, 2021.

Rieter had announced the acquisition of the three businesses on August 16, 2021.

In total, the three businesses generated sales of EUR 142 million in 2020, the year of the COVID crisis. In 2019 and 2018, total sales amounted to EUR 235 million and EUR 260 million, respectively.

The winding machine business with new machines will be assigned to the Business Group Machines & Systems, and the after-sales business will be assigned to the Business Group After Sales. The Accotex and Temco component businesses are managed by the Business Group Components.

BB Engineering GmbH (Germany), a subsidiary of Oerlikon Textile, is pleased to announce that Thai Polyester Co., Ltd (Thailand) has placed a major order for four VacuFil systems for recycling bottle flakes with connected direct spinning. The polyester manufacturer, established in 2001 and with an overall annual capacity of 316,800 tons, is one of Thailand’s leading producers and exclusively uses German technology. To this end, the company already operates Oerlikon Barmag and Oerlikon Neumag systems. The BB Engineer-ing VacuFil systems will be deployed to convert existing spinning plant equipment from processing polyester to processing PET bottle flakes without loss of performance.

BB Engineering supplies the complete recycling process – from the drying stage and extrusion, all the way through to the spinning plant-appropriate fine filtration stage. Thanks to decades of experi-ence in spinning plant technology, the German machine construc-tor also provides comprehensive spinning plant know-how and is aware of how the recycling process must be designed to ensure that the product manufactured using the spinning plant ultimately has the right quality. The four new VacuFil systems will be integrated into the existing building infrastructure and process landscape at Thai Polyester, with a total output of approx. 4,000 kg/h. The Vacu-Fil systems will be complemented by BB Engineering 3DD mixers for directly feeding dyes into the recycled melt flow. Commissioning has been scheduled for 2023.

Thai Polyester will be using the new VacuFil systems to manufac-ture its ‘EcoTPC’ recycling-brand yarns. 100% of these polyester yarns are produced from bottle, fiber and yarn waste and are all GRS certified.

Sustainability has become a major trend in the global home textiles industry. It is more common nowadays to find natural and sustainable fibres in an extensive range of home furnishing products. From this angle, the Lenzing Group (Lenzing) will take led in a brand new pavilion at Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Spring Edition. Lenzing is the world’s leading manufacturer of renewable specialty fibres, and will highlight the latest eco-friendly fibres that can meet the ever-rising sourcing demand. The fair is set to take place from 14 – 16 April 2022 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai).

As an upswing from the growing public awareness of environmental issues, consumers are now more willing to switch to sustainable products. According to a CottonWorks’ survey, 90% of the interviewed Chinese consumers want their home textiles to be environmentally friendly[1]. It also found that more consumers are paying attention to the fibre content that can deliver safe and sustainable home textiles.
Furthermore, the Chinese government’s ‘Outline Of the Development of the Textile Industry during the 14th Five Year Plan’, also encourages the acceleration of low cost, functional and sustainable renewable fibres in the local textile industry.

The Lenzing satellite pavilion: a one-stop platform for green home textile materials
To help home textile suppliers source a variety of eco-friendly materials efficiently, one of the fair’s long-time exhibitors is set to form a new pavilion at the upcoming Spring show. Lenzing, the Austrian brand widely known for its ecologically responsible production of specialty fibres made from renewable raw material wood, gathers seven of its local downstream supply chain manufacturers to showcase their renewable products.

Mr David Dai, Senior Commercial Director Textile China of Lenzing spoked about why they decided to organise a new pavilion at the show: “As we received positive feedback from our pavilion at Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, our business partners from the home textile supply chain were hoping for a similar arrangement in this sector. We believe all the participating manufacturers can benefit from this pavilion by finding ways to better serve their clients and consumers.”

Brands in the Lenzing satellite pavilion will include:
•    Lenzing Group will introduce the first Carbon-zero TENCEL™ fibres which are CarbonNeutral™ certified products by Natural Capital Partner.
•    Botou Jinglun Textiles Co Ltd focuses on new fibre yarns. The company develops multi-component yarns for cotton, wool, silk and linen with combinations of MODAL, TENCEL™ fibres and various functional materials.
•    Fujian Yongtai County Huaerjin Textile Co Ltd provides high-quality, natural, renewable pure and blended yarns including TENCEL™ fibres, US cotton, Australian cotton, acrylic cotton, silk and other plant-based yarns.
•    Jiangsu Dasheng Group Co Ltd has one of the largest cellulosic fibre yarn spinning mills in China and focuses on producing top-quality home textiles.
•    Qingdao Textiles Group produces natural fibres, cellulose fibres, copper antimicrobial fibres and other nature-based materials for home and contract textiles.
•    Suzhou Zhenlun Spinning Co Ltd is an advanced enterprise specialising in regenerated cellulose yarns like ECO VERO, FSC Viscose, Circulose, Carbon Zero Yarn and more.
•    Ton Design Industrial Co Ltd produces medium and high-end bedding fabrics. The brand’s TENCEL™ Lyocell fibres and TENCEL™ fibres blend cotton series products are certified by Lenzing.
•    Wuxi Tianmu Extra Width Printing Dyeing Co Ltd mainly produces extra-wide, high-count and high-density down-proof fabrics and fabrics for bedding. The technique can handle different procedures for dealing with pure cotton, bamboo fibres, TENCEL™ fibres and other fibre fabrics.

In addition to the new pavilion, a number of other featured exhibitors will also showcase their sustainable products at the fair. This includes Cotton Council International (CCI) promoting US cotton fibres and cotton products, and Zhangjiagang Coolist Life Technology Co Ltd bringing their unique bedding products made from organic and environmental-friendly materials.