By Joshua Kirby
Finland’s Infinited Fiber Company has chosen a site for the first commercial-scale manufacture of its sustainable fiber Infinna, which is set to be used by a number of major fashion retailers.
IFC will invest 400 million euros ($420.4 million) to build the Infinna-producing factory at a former paper mill in the Finnish port city of Kemi, it said Monday. The factory should operate at full production capacity of around 30,000 metric tons by 2025, IFC said, adding that this equates to the fiber needed for some 100 million T-shirts.
Infinna is a fiber, produced from cotton-rich textile waste, that in look and feel resembles cotton, according to IFC. Several apparel brands have reached agreements to use the fiber in their clothes, notably Zara parent Industria de Diseno Textil S.A.; Inditex last month said it would buy 30% of IFC’s Infinna production from 2024, in a three-year deal worth more than EUR100 million.
Other companies that have signed Infinna purchase agreements include Inditex’s Swedish rival H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB and Tommy Hilfiger parent PVH Corp, IFC said.
Write to Joshua Kirby at [email protected]; @joshualeokirby
