Hygiene Austria sets up face mask production in English seaport for UK market

Just one month after two Austrian companies – Lenzing and Palmers  - joined forces to form  Hygiene Austria** specifically to produce protective face masks for usage in its own country and distribution to Europe, the company has now announced the setting up of a similar production site in Grimsby, United Kingdom, to supply the urgent needs of the British market.  Grimsby is a large coastal English seaport and administrative centre in North East Lincolnshire, on the South Bank of the Humber Estuary, close to where it reaches the North Sea.

A company spokesman said that since production had started in May in Austria, millions of euros worth of orders had been placed.  The product range includes mouth-nose safety masks, FFP2-masks as well as coloured face masks for children.

According to Tino Wieser, member of the Board of Palmers, the demand in the UK for protective masks is massively driven by the consequent handling of Covid-19.  He said "The supply chain is complex and serving the UK market from Austria is costly.” The managers therefore decided to implement the same approach as in Vienna. “We will pull up our sleeves, start organizing machinery and a well working raw material supply chain and commence producing face masks locally as soon as possible”, Wieser adds.

The Lenzing plant in Grimsby, UK.

UK’s newly appointed International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena, said: “Sourcing PPE for our frontline workers is a key priority for our government. Alongside our efforts in international procurement, it is excellent that we have been able to assist companies from overseas to invest in Britain too, leading to domestic production of vital supplies.”

As a production site, the Lenzing facilities in Grimsby were deemed the best option, according to Phil Munson, Operations Director at the Lenzing Grimsby plant.  He said: “We are eager to play a leading role to ensure the primary health care to the UK population as a key supplier teaming up with our National Health Service (NHS). Moreover, we can count on highly experienced service and maintenance personnel here in Grimsby.” He also highlighted that just like in Austria, new jobs will be created in Grimsby as well, in production, order processing, key accounting, supply chain management and logistics.  Masks for both medical personnel as well as regular citizens will be produced at this plant.

With the set-up of Wiener Neudorf in Austria serving as a blue print for the production in Grimsby, the gained experience will allow an even faster and smoother production in the UK.

At the site in Grimsby first production machines are being installed so production can start between end of May / beginning of June with a monthly capacity of 10 million pieces. Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) based law firm Reed Smith provided legal counsel on the incorporation of the subsidiary.

**
Hygiene Austria LP GmbH was established on April 24th 2020 by Lenzing AG and Palmers Textil AG as a hygiene competence center with the goal of fast and independent production of hygiene items at Palmers’ former production site in Wiener Neudorf, close to Vienna. The company, in which Lenzing AG holds 50.1% and Palmers Textil AG 49.9%, manufactures the so-called mouth-nose-safety masks (MNS)/ surgical masks of class EN14683 with a monthly capacity of 12 million pieces – to be increased to 25 million pieces soon.

Austrian companies form new joint venture to make protective medical masks; production to reach 12 million pieces a month.

During these unprecedented challenging times posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, what was known as regular or normal no longer exists.  With conventional trade more or less come to a halt for many businesses, suppliers and manufacturers around the world are looking outside their normal business dealings and restructure their operations.

Thus with day-to-day operations in jeopardy due to cancelled orders, delays and strict lockdown measures, many businesses have to think and act outside the box in order to survive or find new causes for their existence.

Masks produced by Hygiene Austria

Many are responding to the call of medical professionals, health care workers and service providers decrying the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), including gowns, masks, aprons and other items that help to protect medical and frontline staff from infection while treating coronavirus patients or handling items that may  be contaminated by the virus.

Now, two Austrian companies, both leaders in their fields, have gone one further by forming a new company to answer the surging demand for high quality medical-grade masks for their domestic and European markets as from May 2020.

"Masks will continue to play an important role in our daily lives and we are proud that we were able to achieve our goal of an industrial production so quickly together with our partner Palmers,” says Lenzing AG's CEO Stefan Doboczky.

Lenzing AG, a producer of specialty fibres made from renewable raw material wood, and Palmers Textil AG, a well-established brand of lingerie, have joined forces to found “Hygiene Austria LP GmbH”. The joint-venture is a multi-million-Euro investment in which Lenzing AG holds 50.1% and Palmers Textil AG holds 49.9%, encompassing a modern production infrastructure with secured  raw materials for protective masks production, according to a press release today.
To start off, in a significant move to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic while ensuring a long-term supply of critical products of high quality.  The new company will be producing the so-called mouth-nose protective masks (MNS) and surgical protective masks of class EN14683 with plans to increase its capacities to over 25 million masks per month over the coming weeks eventually to expanding geographically in due course.
In the announcement, top executives of the two respective companies explained that in order to sustainably secure domestic supply now and in the future and to strengthen the business location at Wiener Neudorf, the two companies have now set a milestone with their own competence centre for hygiene based in Austria.
“We decided to pool our knowledge, network and experience in a competence center for hygiene together with our partner Palmers. The aim of this joint venture is to provide the citizens of Austria and Europe with the best possible protection through locally manufactured, high-quality products,” says Stefan Doboczky, CEO of Lenzing AG.
Luca Wieser, member of the Board of Palmers, says Palmers and Lenzing complement each other perfectly.  “We have many years of experience in the manufacture and distribution of textile products.  Lenzing brings its technological experience in the hygiene sector, the know-how regarding procurement and raw material and knowledge in the field of plant engineering.“
“We are not only connected by textile experience and “made in Austria”, but also by the will to act quickly now and to do something for the protection of citizens - we see this as our duty to society.  We are entrepreneurs and we are proud of our country,” continues Tino Wieser,another  member of the Board of Palmers.