Inditex Group sales continued to recover during the first half of 2020 (between 1 February and 31 July) to reach €8 billion: the decline for the half was -37%, helped by an improved second quarter (from 1 May to 31 July) when the fall in sales slowed to -31%, from a decline of -44% in the first quarter.

On August 26th, Sandler formally inaugurated a new production line for nonwovens for face masks. Hubert Aiwanger, Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, was personally on site together with other guests from politics and business. In early April, the nonwovens manufacturer from Schwarzenbach/Saale had announced the investment in a new line to increase production of nonwoven filter media for face masks and thereby expand its contribution to the security of supply of these products.

As expected, the second quarter of SGL Carbon was impacted by the Corona pandemic, but not to the extent predicted in May when the quarterly statement for the period ended March 31, 2020 was published. Sales in the three months as per end of June decreased approximately 23 percent year-on-year, whereas Group recurring EBIT was at around 2 million euros and thus higher than anticipated. In total, SGL Carbon reached Group sales of 457 million euros in the first half year.

In the first half of 2020, the Lenzing Group faced a historically difficult market environment with increased pressure on prices and volumes resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. To counteract that, Lenzing intensified its cooperation with partners along the value chains and adjusted its production volumes and sales prices to market reality. The disciplined implementation of the sCore TEN corporate strategy and the focus on specialty fibers continued to have a positive impact.