Value chain expansion in the Manmade Fibers Segment
Pfäffikon SZ, Switzerland – July 9, 2015 – Oerlikon today announced that its Manmade Fibers Segment has signed a joint venture agreement with the Chinese company Huitong Chemical Engineering Technique Co., Ltd. The joint venture strengthens Oerlikon’s position in the growing business of designing, setting-up and servicing polycondensation plants. It will enable Oerlikon’s Manmade Fibers Segment to offer customers a complete solution and an entirely integrated process – from the monomer all the way through to the textured yarn and the production of bottle-grade polymers.
Oerlikon is continuing the strategic development of its portfolio with further investments in its best-in-class businesses. The joint venture, in which Oerlikon will hold 60 % of the equity, leverages the engineering and service capabilities of Oerlikon’s Manmade Fibers Segment, and allows the Segment to accelerate the development of its polycondensation plant businesses in China and on a global scale. Huitong is China's first polyester engineering company and provides technologies and engineering solutions to customers in the polyester, hydrogen peroxide and nylon businesses. The combination of Oerlikon’s technologies, engineering and service capabilities with Huitong’s engineering and polymer technologies leads to a fully integrated engineering concept for the manmade fibers market and adjacent polycondensation markets for the production of packaging bottles or films.
Dr. Brice Koch, CEO of the Oerlikon Group, said: “As part of our strategy to reinforce our best-in-class businesses, we have been actively leveraging our core technologies and competencies and broadening their applications in adjacent markets. In line with this, our Manmade Fibers Segment has successfully entered the polycondensation market, and this joint venture is our next step in further developing our expertise and business in this market. The joint venture is a perfect fit in terms of technologies, business models and market access and opens up attractive business opportunities in the manmade fibers market and its adjacent markets such as plant engineering and polycondensation technologies.”
Oerlikon Barmag, a brand of Manmade Fibers Segment, and Huitong have been cooperating since 2007 and have realized several international projects together. These partners will now join forces to further develop the important Chinese market and expand into international markets with a highly competitive global engineering structure and leading technology portfolio. The joint venture will be established once approval has been granted by the Chinese authorities.
