User:ENTranslation/Trevira

Trevira GmbH is a European manufacturer of high-value branded fibres and filament yarns for technical applications and hygiene products as well as for home textiles, automotive interiors and functional apparel. Two production sites and a Marketing and Sales office with a total of approx. 1,100 employees are located in Germany. These are supported by an international marketing and sales organisation. In 2018, sales amounted to around 235 million Euros. The head office of the company is located in Bobingen near Augsburg. Owner of Trevira GmbH is Indorama Venture PCL, Thailand. Trevira has a worldwide reputation for fibres and yarns for flame retardant polyester home textiles (Trevira CS), for its fibre specialties for hygiene products and technical applications as well as for low-pill fibres for functional apparel.

Company
Trevira GmbH manufactures textile polyester products, especially fibre, flat-, filament, and textured yarns for home textiles, automotive interiors and functional apparel as well as for technical textiles and hygiene products. Specialities include fibres and yarns for flame retardant textiles (Trevira CS brand) and for textiles with a permanently antimicrobial effect (Trevira Bioactive brand). Another branch of the company is the production of PLA fibres and filament yarns that are manufactured from biopolymer polylactid acid (PLA). PLA is made from plant raw materials. Parent company Indorama manufactures recycled chips from PET bottles which Trevira processes into filament yarns. Textiles containing sustainable Trevira products may bear the SINFINECO label.

The annual production is around 81,000 tonnes of staple fibres and filament yarns (among other things, polyester, PBT, PLA, bico fibres/hybrid yarns). In addition, every year approximately 29,000 tonnes of polyester chips are manufactured for sales to third-party customers (2018). The share of fibres and yarns in total sales is distributed as follows: 21% in home textiles, 14% in automotive interior, 39% in technical textiles and hygiene products as well as 12% in apparel; polyester chips account for a further 14% (2018).

In 2018, the export share outside the European Union was 19%. Trevira is one of the market leaders for flame retardant polyester fibres for contract textiles.

Trevira customers are companies of the international textile industry with a focus on the European Union.

Locations
Trevira has three locations in Germany (two of which are production sites) as well as several subsidiaries and representatives abroad. Company headquarters are located in Bobingen near Augsburg in Germany. Here, at the Trevira parent plant, staple fibres are manufactured for the non-woven industry and for technical applications as well as for home textiles and apparel. In addition, Trevira develops new polymers, filaments, and speciality fibres in Bobingen. Trevira also performs laboratory tests and analyses, also for external customers.

A second plant in Guben (Brandenburg, Germany) produces flat filament yarns as well as air-textured and false-twist-textured filament yarns for car interiors, apparel, and home textiles. Management, marketing, and sales are all based in Hattersheim near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Hattersheim is the centre for services to business partners all over the world. Furthermore, Trevira has offices in France, Italy, Portugal, and North America, as well as some 30 freelance representatives worldwide.

International Certifications

 * DIN EN ISO 9001


 * DIN EN ISO 14001


 * DIN EN ISO 50001


 * Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex


 * AEO – Authorised Economic Operator

Company History
The Trevira brand started life as a linguistic error and in truth, this happened long before 1956, the year it was first used as a brand of polyester fibres. “Trevira” had already made its entry into the trademark register in 1932. This was initiated by Adolf Kämpf, plant director of what was then an artificial silk factory in Bobingen, near Augsburg in Germany. Among other things, Kämpf also arranged the construction of a housing estate for the workers of the artificial silk factory. In 1933, Trevira was registered as a trademark. The name Trevira is actually based on an error made by Kämpf who was not native to the area. He had wanted to derive the name from the Roman name of the City of Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicorum) but confused it with Augusta Treverorum, which was actually the name of the City of Trier. While this error was cleared up, the trademark Trevira stuck, although its use initially changed and at times, the name was not used at all. In 1946 and 1947, Paul Schlack (who developed the nylon fibre in 1938 with Berliner Aceta GmbH in IG Farben) was initially the plant director for the nylon production and later became the technical director of the artificial silk factory (that had also belonged to IG Farben during the National Socialist period) in Bobingen, Germany.

Introduction of Trevira as Polyester Fibre Brand
During the ownership unbundling from IG Farben in 1952, the factory became part of Farbwerke Hoechst AG and in 1955 Schlack took over management of Hoechst fibre research. Hoechst began manufacturing staple fibres made from polyester and initially distributed them in cooperation with Vereinigten Glanzstoff-Fabriken AG (later Enka) under the Diolen trademark. It was only when Hoechst started to develop polyester continuous filaments (filament yarns) in 1956, that the Trevira name was first used. The polyester division expanded rapidly and it became the world’s largest polyester supplier at that time. Further plants were established in Berlin, Bad Hersfeld, Gersthofen (which is also near Augsburg), Offenbach, and also abroad.

From the 1970s onwards, the company gradually moved its focus to specialised functional fibres and yarns. Trevira took over the texturing plants of Ernst Michalke and Kaj Neckelmann in Denmark. In 1980, Trevira launched its sub-brand Trevira CS and thus introduced a flame retardant fibre to the market. To date, Trevira CS is still one of the main products of the company. In 1987, Hoechst took over the fibre manufacturer Celanese in the USA. After the reunification of Germany, the former Chemiefaserkombinat, a chemical fibre combine in Guben, Germany was also added.

The new Trevira polyester fibres were initially used in clothing, but increasingly, they found their use in home textiles, technical applications, and non-wovens as well. These “Made-to-measure fibres” could be used in various textiles, ranging from heavy brocade to Jacquard, muslin, and taffeta to net curtains. They could be either woven, knitted or warp knitted and they were even non-iron. Heat-fixing made it possible to bring permanent pleats into materials that were otherwise crease-free. Famous designers such as Lagerfeld, Castelbajac, and Piattelli presented collections made of Trevira fabrics at fashion shows.

Final Separation from Hoechst
Since 1996, the company changed ownership several times and went through restructuring, site closures, and relocations of sites. The hiving-off process of the polyester fibre business from Hoechst AG was started as early as 1994. In 1998, the European polyester fibre business was sold to Multikarsa (Indonesia) and Trevira GmbH & Co KG was established. The year 2000 saw the complete separation of Trevira from Hoechst and in 2001, the company was transformed into a limited company (GmbH). In August 2004, Trevira GmbH was acquired by Reliance Industries and became a subsidiary of this Indian group. In June 2009, Trevira (Trevira Group and Trevira Holding) filed for insolvency and started comprehensive restructuring.

On January 1, 2010, business operations of the Trevira Group and Trevira Holding were taken over by the newly founded Trevira GmbH. From July 2011 until April 2017, Trevira was owned by a joint venture of the world’s largest PET producer Indorama Ventures (Thailand) and Sinterama (Italy), a specialist in polyester filament yarns. Since 2012, the Guben site has concentrated on the production of filaments while the Bobingen site focuses on the production of staple fibres.

Indorama Ventures Becomes Sole Owner
In April 2017, Trevira GmbH fully became a subsidiary of the Thai company Indorama Ventures PCL (IVL). The remaining 25% of the shares were acquired by the investor on April 18th from the former joint venture partner Sinterama.

Web Links
Trevira GmbH website

Indorama Ventures PCL website