The world’s largest acetate filament producer, Celanese Acetate, is in the process of invigorating its business via new fabric developments and by operating Global Fabric Studios in its New York City  (212 251 8050) and Los Angeles (213 628 8301) showrooms.

Opened in mid-2001, the global fabric studios present fabric samples from converters and knitters from the U.S., Mexico, Europe and Asia. Both fashion fabrics and linings fabrics are highlighted, as well as some home furnishings.
The studios were opened as a service to Celanese’s global customers who manufacture knitted and woven fabrics in Celanese acetate.  Acetate’s characteristics, such as its silk-like properties, its breathability and its limitless applications, are stressed to retailers and apparel producers.

Retailers and garment manufacturers are invited to visit the libraries, often in tandem with presentations of the company’s live Directives shows. Directives includes fabric/color/trend/silhouette forecasts eighteen months in advance of apparel fashion seasons. Directives is presented six times a week, seasonally, in New York City and biannually in Los Angeles.

In the product development area, Celanese Acetate, in partnership with its customers, is introducing blends of textured nylon with bright acetate for the women’s wear junior and contemporary markets.  A second major development is a blend of ingrain acetate and filament rayon for the bridge and contemporary markets.

The current overall situation for acetate in Asia is one of oversupply, which Celanese officials believe will level out by the 4th quarter of 2002. The Japanese market remains slow for acetate, but the acetate filament market in China is growing for both domestic and global regions. Investors in China from Japan and Korea, with new equipment for dyeing and finishing, are bringing to the Chinese textile markets new developments and products in acetate linings fabrics. China is also developing outerwear fabrics such as chiffon-like acetate/silk blends for the moderate and better women’s wear markets, so the Chinese market should be a growth area for acetate filament.

Celanese and Teijin Limited announced in December of 2001 that they signed a marketing and sales assistance agreement where Teijin will assist Celanese in marketing Celanese acetate filament products in Japan and the Asia region as an independent consultant.

Throughout Asia, Celanese Acetate’s new high performance filling yarns called CelStar have unique characteristic such as proprietary finish technology, low interlace level and a modified cross section. The benefits to mills include low loom air pressure requirements, low filling stop levels and superior fabric appearance.

Celanese Acetate, after several sluggish years, has recently been encouraged by an uptick in demand for acetate/spandex knits for women’s wear. The global demand for these knit fabrics, together with a gradual return to business attire (including lined suits) in the U.S. market post 9/11, bodes well for the business to get back to profitability over the next few years.

Celanese Acetate streamlined its operations over the past three years, including the closure of three of its production sites for filament. Today, Celanese acetate is manufactured at two plants, one in the U.S. (Narrows, Virginia) and one in Mexico (Ocotlan).

Celanese Acetate’s filament office in Hong Kong is headed by Edmond So, Celanese Far East Ltd., Sino Plaza, 255-257 Gloucester Road, Suite ND1, 20th Floor, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.  Tel: 852 250 63136.

James Park is at the Celanese Korea office, Celanese Korea, Ltd. 4F1, Songwon Building, 59-4, Banpo 4-dong, Seocho-Ku, Seoul, Korea 137-044.  Tel: 82 234 78 1175.

Celanese Acetate is the world’s largest cellulose acetate filament producer. Its product, Celanese acetate, is found in women’s and men’s apparel fashions, linings, home furnishings and industrial end uses.

Celanese Acetate is part of Celanese AG, a global chemicals company with leading positions in its key products and world class process technology. Celanese AG generated sales of around € 5.1 billion in 2001 and has about 11,800 employees. The company has 30 production plants and five research centers in 11 countries mainly in North America, Europe and Asia. Celanese AG shares are listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange (stock exchange symbol CZZ) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol CZ).

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