Courtaulds Lyocell.

A DECADE OF COURTAULDS LYOCELL

1997, the tenth anniversary of the world's first lyocell production unit - on Courtaulds site in Grimsby (U.K.) - will see completion of Courtaulds third full lyocell plant, currently under construction, also on the Grimsby site. When production commences at the new plant at the end of 1997, Courtaulds capacity for the fiber will be approximately 100,000 tons a year.

Courtaulds Fibres pioneered lyocell over a 15-year period, prior to its global launch into the fashion apparel market, under the brand name TENCEL, between 1990 and 1992. In June 1995 Courtaulds launched its lyocell fiber into the technical products market at Techtextil, underlining the company's commitment to this important sector. The registration of the brand name COURTAULDS LYOCELL for nonwovens, special papers and industrial applications consolidates that position.

The unique properties of COURTAULDS LYOCELL - not the least the fact that the "best available technology not entailing excessive cost" is employed in converting wood cellulose into fiber - can be capitalized by a wide range of converters.

Nonwoven fabrics, particularly those produced by hydroentanglement, are much stronger, especially when wet, more stable and have better wet-resilience than their viscose-based counterparts. Since the fiber takes on the appearance of the forming conveyor more precisely, materials look more "woven" and they are softer. All these characteristics make COURTAULDS LYOCELL very interesting to the wipes, medical, disposable apparel and semi-durable textile markets.

In papermaking, it is the fiber's unique ability to fibrillate during wet processing that is the special appeal of COURTAULDS LYOCELL. It can be split up in beaters or refiners to yield submicron fibrils which hydrogen-bond to give strong porous papers. Unlike other cellulose fibers, including wood derivatives, the fibrils are very fine and round, which results in some unusual properties.

In industrial textiles, its strength, stability, softness, low shrinkage and high tear resistance combine with the absorbency of cellulose to make COURTAULDS LYOCELL the natural, and preferred, alternative to cotton where a higher performance is required.

Since its launch, the Courtaulds Lyocell team has been working with a number of customers across a wide range of applications, a selection of which will be on Courtaulds stand at Techtextil (Frankfurt) and Expo Nonwovens Asia '97 (Osaka), both in May 1997.

THE EVOLUTION OF COURTAULDS LYOCELL

1978 - Courtaulds embarks on a systematic search for a new cellulosic fiber process.

1982 - Courtaulds commits to building the first small pilot plant capable of making up to 100 kg/week of fiber.

1984 - Scale-up to a one ton/week pilot line.

1987 - First lyocell unit (Grimsby).

1989 - Launch, under the brand name TENCEL, into the Japanese apparel market, based on the Grimsby fiber.

1991/92 - The first plant is built in Mobile, AL, to produce 18,000 tons/year.

1996 - Second plant commissioned in Mobile; capacity increased to 43,000 tons/year.

1996 - Construction of the first European plant, at Grimsby, commences to bring Courtaulds production capacity for COURTAULDS LYOCELL to 100,000 tons/year by the end of 1997.

A third production site is being sought in the Far East.

Courtaulds Lyocell 72 Lockhurst Lane P.O. Box 143 Coventry, U.K. Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Contact: Calvin Woodings

Courtaulds Fibers Inc. 111 West 40th St. New York, NY 10018 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Contact: Nick Hrinko

Courtaulds Japan Ltd. 313 Minami-Aoyama 6th Fl. 13-18 Minami-Aoyama 3-chome Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Contact: Yuko Kakehashi