#Spinning

2025-03-13

Köksan invests in China relying on Oerlikon Barmag Continuous Polycondensation Technology

Oerlikon Barmag Huitong Engineering (OBHE), has signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Köksan Group, one of the leading PET producers in Türkiye, for a Continuous Polycondensation (CP) production capacity of 400,000 tons per year. This will accelerate the global expansion of the Köksan Group's production capacity.

Martin Oruc Kutuk, General Manager of Köksan, and Zhong Ming, General Manager of Oerlikon Barmag Huiting Engineering (OBHE) at the signing ceremony of the contract © 2025 BARMAG

As part of this comprehensive cooperation agreement, Köksan will invest a high triple-digit million Chinese Yuan amount in the coming years. The new plant will be in the Yangkou Chemical Industrial Park, Rudong County, Nantong, China. Köksan will be setting up its plant with a production capacity of 2.2-million-tons-per-year green polyester new materials for the packaging industry. The first phase of this project has now been officially launched. Production is scheduled to start in mid-2026.

“We are convinced that this investment will be a major step for our company's future. It is our first investment in China and one of the largest industrial investments by a Turkish company in this area of industry in China. Upon the completion and full operation of this project, Köksan will become one of the global giants in polyester production for the packaging industry”, said Murat Köko?lu, CEO of Köksan. “We are very pleased that Köksan has chosen our innovative CP technology. This is further proof of our capabilities in the field of polymerization technologies”, said Zhong Ming, General Manager of Oerlikon Barmag Huitong Engineering.

Latest CP technology from Oerlikon Barmag Huitong Engineering

The project adopts the advanced five-reactors process and tailor-made equipment of Barmag’s joint venture partner OBHE. Using purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and ethylene glycol (MEG) as raw materials, it produces high-viscosity chips through the direct esterification and continuous polycondensation process technology route. Combined with Köksan's experience & knowledge, high-quality bottle-grade polyester chips are finally obtained.

As one of Türkiye’s leading companies in the PET and plastic packaging sector, Köksan exports to more than 100 countries and maintains its investments abroad. Köksan is an international investor with operations in China, Senegal, Libya, and Iraq. After over 50 years of development, the company has realized a diversified development model integrating chemical production and processing, logistics, warehousing, international trade, hotel and real estate development.

High-performance yarns for tomorrow's mobility

At this year's Techtextil in Frankfurt (April 21–24), Barmag will be presenting comprehensive solutions for the production of industrial filament yarns at the VDMA joint stand (Hall 12, C56). The focus will be on applications that ensure greater safety, durability, and efficiency in automotive engineering.

Monitor, adjust, perfect

FiberGuard BCF is the name of the new system for real-time monitoring of yarn tension in all Neumag BCF production processes. Barmag, the innovation and technology leader for filament spinning systems, presented this innovation of its Neumag product line at ITMA Asia + CITME in Singapore last November. The new BCF yarn tension sensor is compatible with all current Neumag BCF machines and can be easily retrofitted to existing Neumag BCF S8 machines.

Development of bio-based polyethylene fibers for textile applications – BB Engineering partici-pates in the bioPEtex research project

In the German research project bioPEtex, BB Engineering (BBE) is working with other partners to develop textiles made from 100% bio-based polyethylene (PE). The aim is to make use of this poly-mer, which has hardly been used in the chemical fiber industry to date. BBE is contributing its spinning and texturizing expertise and developing the texturing process on an industrial scale. The first promising results are already available – opening up new opportu-nities for sustainable and economically attractive applications in the textile industry.

Rieter advances strategic repositioning amid market volatility

Rieter successfully completed the acquisition of Barmag on February 2, 2026, and reached an important milestone in the company’s repositioning. Barmag will be integrated into the Rieter Group as the “Man-Made Fiber” Division. With this strategically transformative acquisition, Rieter is expanding its core business beyond the short-staple fiber business in a targeted way. This positions Rieter as the global market leader along the entire value chain for natural and man-made fibers. In addition, as a complete systems supplier, Rieter is further strengthening its technological leadership in the areas of automation and digitization.

Measure and control the fiber – optimize yarn quality

Producing consistent yarn quality is an everyday challenge – and a very difficult one. Detailed knowledge and understanding of the fiber raw material is absolutely critical to achieving the best possible quality in the yarn. To help spinners, Uster experts have put together guidelines for avoiding yarn irregularity claims, in a special edition of the Uster News Bulletin.

Textile‑to‑textile recycling leader Circulose joins Spinnova’s ecosystem to accelerate technology scale‑up

Textile‑to‑textile recycling leader Circulose joins Spinnova’s ecosystem (consortium) to help advance the scale‑up of Spinnova’s technology. Spinnova has actively sought partners to accelerate commercial scale‑up, and Circulose, as a key player in textile recycling, strengthens the ecosystem by providing a raw material that is in high demand across the industry.

UNIFI® introduces Luxel™: A Linen-inspired, easy-care performance yarn

Unifi, Inc. (NYSE: UFI), the makers of REPREVE® and one of the world’s leading innovators in recycled and synthetic yarns, today announced the launch of Luxel™, a groundbreaking yarn technology that combines the luxurious look and feel of linen with high-performance, easy-care, and textile-to-textile recycled materials.