Interview with Mr. Friedrich Weninger

Mr. Friedrich Weninger
Vice President
Lenzing

In 1892, Emil Hamburger, an industrialist of repute, set up a paper factory in Lenzing, Austria. Since then, this leading fibres making company has not looked back. Today, it possesses some of the leading brands of fibres in the world; Lenzing Viscose, Lenzing Modal and Tencel.

Can we start with a brief overview of Lenzing AG?

"Lenzing Group is the world's largest cellulose staple fibre producer possessing leading brands: Lenzing Viscose; Lenzing Modal; Tencel, besides other branded items in its diverse product portfolio. The Group has a turnover of more than 900 million ? and operates in: Austria: where its largest Viscose production plant in the world is located alongside a Tencel plant Indonesia: where a Viscose plant is in operations UK: where a Tencel plant has been functioning USA: where a Tencel plant is running China: where a Viscose plant will go on stream by end2006/beginning 2007 Our company was established in 1936 at Lenzing, Austria, where our corporate headquarter and innovation center are located."

How do you see the post quota scenario?

It was a dramatic change that European textile industry experienced and was not expected to that extent where the import rate of certain textile items increased up to 20 times compared to the year before. Same situation prevailed in case of textiles imports by the US. Therefore, the safeguard measures were a clear consequence but their effectiveness is very doubtful - the increase of the imports cannot be stopped, and will continue even while European industry will further shrink. China and India, will develop in to by far the largest exporters to the US and Europe. But, it is not the case that only the US and European textile industry will suffer. Moreover, countries in Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Maghreb area, as well as South America etc., will suffer from the strong shifts to China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh.

What are the key trends that the textile industry is facing today?

Unfortunately, it is only the extreme sensitivity on the price front, but this is already on the wane as there are no cheap textile producing countries available or how can another country or party under quote costs of US $0.17 per working hour? Can it be anyway cheaper than that in India/China? Not really, hence, now the start for differentiation is fixed; that is differentiation through innovation in design, time to market, branding etc.

Where do you see yourselves in the marketplace today?

Lenzing is the Numero Uno not only in volume terms but also in quality and innovation. We have over 60 years of experience in fibres and it is absolutely the core business of our Group. We have an excellent fibre portfolio, marketing setup and INNOVATION as our cornerstone to enrich and back up the value chain, implying that there are benefits in using our products and services.

What is the size of the market you are in and what is the growth potential of your industry?

We should not see only the growth within our segment Viscose fibres. We also see cotton, and our fibre portfolio complements a lot in terms of natural absorbing fibres. Also synthetics can be seen as a potential to blend as these fibres that do not absorb moisture etc. The growth potential of this segment is still very high as the per capita consumption in India will grow substantially over the years as the incomes rise (China will expect 5-6 kg/per capita whereas Europe 24-26kg/per capita consumption).

What are your competitive advantages?

"Attractive and a wide fibre portfolio, strong innovation and marketing, high quality and high service, interaction with production units globally, and having established marketing offices in the consumer markets are all our forte. Last but not the least, we possess more than 60 years of experience to back us up."

What are your future plans to improve your market position?

We will drive the innovation process and work strongly/cooperating intensively with the downstream customer from among the supply chain.

What are the challenges you are facing in the industry today?

Challenges are mainly the flight of the European industry to Asia at a very high speed. So, we have to move with the downstream industry, is the reason why we are going to open an office in India to cater to our customers there.

Published on: 14/02/2006

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.