The first man-made fibres which were developed and produced used polymers of natural origin, more precisely of cellulose which is a raw material available in large quantities in the vegetable world. The beginning of industrial production of man-made fibres goes back to the year 1890, when the French Count Hilaire de Chardonnet started up his plant for the production of "Chardonnet silk" (initial output: 50 kg per day), using the cellulose nitrate process