EANS-News

Lenzing AG / Capacity Expansion in Heiligenkreuz starts with Ground-Breaking Ceremony

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer/originator is solely
responsible for the content of this announcement.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Company Information

- Expansion of capacities for premium specialty fibers by 25,000 tons
- Investments of about EUR 70 mn over the next twelve months -
Project highlights strategic importance of Heiligenkreuz for TENCEL®
premium fibers

Heiligenkreuz - The Lenzing Group is expanding production capacities
for its specialty fiber TENCEL® at its site in Heiligenkreuz,
Burgenland. After obtaining all required approvals and permits, the
expansion project was initiated today, Tuesday, March 21, 2017. The
ground-breaking ceremony was attended by Lenzing CEO Stefan Doboczky,
along with Bernd Zauner and Dieter Eichinger, the two managing
directors of Lenzing Fibers, Burgenland's Provincial Governor Hans
Niessl and Alexander Petschnig, the Regional Minister for Economic
Affairs.

"We will invest about EUR 70 mn over the coming twelve-month period
to expand production capacities for our high-quality botanic
specialty fibers", Doboczky says. "With this investment we are
responding to strong global demand for new types of TENCEL® premium
fibers such as the RefibraTM fiber, using cotton scraps from the
manufacturing of cotton garments and wood as raw materials. This
fiber makes a widely-recognized contribution to the circular economy
in the textile industry. The fiber was very successfully launched on
the market in February by our strategic partner Inditex in its Zara
stores", he adds.

Annual production capacities for fibers will be increased by about
25,000 tons as a result of the investment. The fibers will be
available to customers starting at the end of the first quarter of
2018. "We launched the production of lyocell fibers in Heiligenkreuz
20 years ago, and have expanded the site to make it to one of the
largest industrial employer in Southern Burgenland. The new
investments comprise a further important milestone in our success
story, and will provide added impetus to growth in a structurally
weak region", states Zauner.

Lenzing put its first industrial-scale lyocell fiber production
facility into operation 20 years ago. Today the fibers are sold under
the TENCEL® brand name. A recent study carried out under the
scientific supervision of Friedrich Schneider, Professor at Johannes
Kepler University in Linz, concluded that the Lenzing plant in
Heiligenkreuz generates considerable regional economic effects. In
addition to the approximately 230 jobs at Lenzing Fibers itself,
around 940 additional jobs are secured on a long-term basis thanks to
the company's economic activities in the region. The additional value
creation equals about EUR 102 mn per year.

In its 20-year history, the Heiligenkreuz plant has sold close to
700,000 tons of fibers and exported the majority across the globe, as
far away as China, Korea and Japan. The factory in Heiligenkreuz has
been continuously expanded due to rapidly growing demand. Up until
now, Lenzing has invested a total of roughly EUR 750 mn to build and
extend production capacities for TENCEL® fibers. In addition to the
Heiligenkreuz facility, these specialty fibers are also manufactured
at the Lenzing site, in Mobile (USA) and Grimsby (Great Britain).

The lyocell technology applied in Heiligenkreuz is characterized by a
very good environmental performance. The cellulose fibers are derived
from the renewable raw material wood in a closed-loop process,
resulting in a minimal amount of environmentally harmful emissions.
Due to their outstanding properties, TENCEL® fibers boast a
particularly broad range of applications, both in the world of
fashion as well as technical areas and nonwovens. Lenzing is the
leading producer of lyocell fibers by far, and is continually
upgrading and refining this technology.

Photo download:
https://mediadb.lenzing.com/pindownload/login.do?pin=Z145W
PIN-Code: Z145W

Further inquiry note:
Lenzing AG
Mag. Waltraud Kaserer
Vice President Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Tel.: [phone]
mailto:[e-mail]

end of announcement euro adhoc
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

company: Lenzing AG

A-A-4860 Lenzing
phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
mail: [e-mail]
WWW: http://www.lenzing.com
sector: Chemicals
ISIN: AT0000644505
indexes: WBI, ATX, Prime Market
stockmarkets: official market: Wien
language: English