Tokyo-headquartered Teijin Frontier is expanding production capacity for conjugate filaments with a number of new spinning and drawing machines at Teijin Polyester in Thailand (TPL).

The expansion will meet increasing global demand for these filaments which provide an attractive alternative to wool fibres. The filaments are produced by simultaneously spinning two different polymers from a divided spinneret, resulting in single fibres with structures such as side-by-side or core-sheath configurations.

The new equipment will be installed at the existing TPL production facility in Bangkok to increase capacity to 700 tons per year in 2025 and full-scale production will commence in September 2024.

In recent years, global demand for wool alternatives has been rising due to population growth and the increasing cost for processing wool fibres. Consequently, Teijin Frontier has seen significant growth in the sales of its conjugate filament materials, such as Trixion, which offers a natural worsted wool-like appearance and desirable functional properties such as stretch. The fibres are primarily used in fashion apparel and uniforms.

To address growing demand, TPL has been operating at near-full capacity and has implemented efficiency measures such as strategic personnel re-allocation and productivity improvements. However, anticipating further increases in demand, TPL made the decision to expand production capacity.

The conjugate filaments will be widely marketed domestically and internationally, including within Teijin Frontier Group, as raw yarns, textiles and finished products.

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