The Lenzing Group’s orientation, which we have essentially been pursuing since 2015, is focused on sustainable cellulose specialty fibers and has proved to be very successful. This focus on specialty fibers has enabled us to overcome the sometimes difficult market conditions of recent years. Our new “Better Growth” strategy was already defined on this basis in 2022. This strategy focuses on ensuring that we continue to play a leading role in sustainable specialty fibers within a volatile economic environment. As a company, we aim both to be successful in business, and to make a positive contribution to our world. This approach is reflected in our “Better Growth” corporate strategy.
Lenzing anticipates consistent growth in demand for fibers that are produced in an environmentally responsible manner from the textile and clothing industries as well as from the hygiene and medical sectors. Our strategy aims to better serve growing demand for our fibers marketed under the TENCEL™, LENZING™ ECOVERO™ and VEOCEL™ brands.
We have identified four strategic driving factors that set a clear path to the future. These strategic drivers strengthen Lenzing’s differentiation and competitiveness and help us achieve better growth in all market segments. In light of market trends in 2023, a review of the strategy led to the focus for 2024 being placed on the drivers of excellence and premiumization.
Excellence
We are getting a little better every day. Excellence in everything we do not only adds value but also creates the resilience that enables our business to thrive in a volatile market. Our relentless pursuit of excellence extends to all operational, commercial, and global functional units and works to create value across all activities, projects, and products. A vigorous drive for continuous improvement – through greater efficiency, quality, and safety – also gives us the flexibility to face challenging times with confidence.
Premiumization
We develop premium products and premium services with customer needs at the center, in order to meet market requirements at the highest level. As an industry leader in the production of innovative, carbon-neutral fibers, we will continue to invest in our market share with differentiated premium brands and to work on greater transparency and traceability along the value chain, thereby making Lenzing a sought-after partner.
Sustainability
We aim for more sustainable systems and processes in everything we do. We will focus our efforts on increasing our recycling capacity and on reducing our carbon footprint where we can have the greatest impact and stand out the most. We will reduce emissions at our production sites by switching to cleaner energy sources and by installing more energy-efficient equipment. We will also link linear supply chains that end in textile waste in order to create a cycle.
Innovation
We are leading industry change by continuing to bring innovations to the market and by managing innovation as a key value driver. Our long-standing culture of innovation underpins our profitable growth and sustainability agenda by advancing the development of new products, applications, processes, and techniques. These smart solutions are playing a part in the industry’s shift towards a more sustainable future for our planet – a future that brings us closer to our corporate mission.
Our four strategic drivers will accelerate our profitable growth and enable us to move with greater certainty towards the targets we have set for 2027. In financial terms, we are aiming for substantially higher EBITDA and an improvement in our return on capital employed. In operational terms, we will continue to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions on our path to net zero and increase our share of sustainable premium fibers to over 60 percent.
Further information about the “Better Growth” corporate strategy can be found on the Lenzing website at https://www.lenzing.com/lenzing-group/strategy.