YVASKYLA - Woodspin, the joint venture between sustainable textile material company Spinnova and its strategic partner, pulp company Suzano, has said that its first commercial factory is now in production while also confirming that it has outlined plans for a second plant.
Reporting an increase in revenue for the six months to December of €16.6 million, up from €5.6 million, Spinnova confirmed that production has now started, following the completion of construction work on the first factory and the installation of the company's technology.
The operating result for the period was a loss of €12.3 million, up from €7.2 million.
The company's first factory, at Jyväskylä in Finland, was built in partnership with Suzano and aims to be producing a million tonnes of fibre annually within 10-12 years.
"The construction work for Woodspin’s first factory in central Finland was completed at the end of October, after which work to finalize the technology installations has continued," the company said in a statement. "The factory has started up and has been producing fibre in February 2023. The ramp-up will continue through the year 2023, gradually increasing production capacity. Spinnova’s textile development work continues, and we are planning to launch our first products using Suzano micro-fibrillated cellulose (MFC) as raw material."
The company also confirmed that feasibility planning for the next plant was progressing with both the size of the factory and location already under evaluation. Both brown and greenfield sites were being considered.
"The market opportunity and ambition level to scale to one million tonnes with Suzano remains unchanged," Spinnova added. "Feasibility planning for the next plant progressed well during 2022. Both optimal size and comparison of brownfield and greenfield sites are under evaluation. Spinnova is actively working with Suzano to improve the efficiency of the raw material process. At the same time Spinnova continues to further develop the technology concept of the spinning process. The business case for the next Woodspin factory investment is being finalized and will use the learnings from the first factory as it ramps up production. It is therefore expected that the next Woodspin plant will be completed after 2024."
The company's multi-patented technology creates fibre from wood and waste without the use of harmful chemicals. The fibre is said to be ‘climate positive’, saving more CO2 than is emitted during production.
Spinnova is working with a number of leading brands, including Adidas, Marimekko and Bestseller, and last year introduced a number of commercial products in conjunction with its brand partners.
