1,000 tons of fibers across the Iron Silk Road

Both Lenzing and cargo-partner strategically rely on rail transport via the New Silk Road as an environmentally friendly, fast and cost-efficient alternative to air and seafreight. After Lenzing sent a first train from Vienna to Shanghai at the end of August, cargo-partner has now been commissioned to organize the transport of a train from Linz to Qingdao. The block train consists of a total of 46 forty-foot containers loaded with TENCEL™ fibers, 28 of which were loaded in the town of Lenzing and a further 18 loaded in the municipality of Heiligenkreuz. After loading, the goods were transported by truck to the nearest rail operator terminal. Once the containers have arrived at the destination terminal in Xi’an, they will be delivered by road to Qingdao.

The ceremonial departure of the train from the container terminal in Linz was attended by prominent state government officials including Mag. Thomas Stelzer, Governor of Upper Austria, and Klaus Luger, Mayor of Linz, as well as by Josefine Deiser, head of the forwarding and logistics division of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce. Marco Schlimpert, Senior Vice President Europe & Americas at Lenzing AG, and cargo-partner CEO Mag. Stefan Krauter were also on site to assure themselves of the professional handling of the premiere transport along with representatives of the involved rail service providers and the General Manager of Linz AG, DI Erich Haider, MBA.

At the subsequent press conference, cargo-partner owner and CEO Stefan Krauter emphasized the good collaboration with the fiber manufacturer: “cargo-partner and Lenzing AG have been working together successfully for more than 10 years, especially in the field of seafreight. When Lenzing recently approached us due to a short-term increase in demand from China and asked for a reliable transport alternative via the Iron Silk Road, our experienced team immediately set about organizing this train.”

Marco Schlimpert (Lenzing) also emphasized the successful cooperation of the two companies and explained the motivations behind it: “Due to the high demand from Chinese brands and retailers for sustainably produced fibers, we are delivering TENCEL™ branded Lyocell and Modal fibers directly to our customers in China by rail. This allows us to transport our goods in an environment-friendly way, and moreover it ensures that the goods reach our customers in China twice as fast as on the usual sea route.”

“This unique project is not only proof of Upper Austria’s export power, but also and especially of the environmental commitment and climate innovations of the local industry. Our hope is that climate protection and ‘Made in Upper Austria’ will become inseparable terms in the future. Today, we took a strong step in this direction,” emphasized Thomas Stelzer, Governor of Upper Austria.

Over 10 years of successful collaboration with Lenzing

The Lenzing Group is a global company based in Austria who stands for the ecologically responsible production of special fibers from the renewable raw material wood. With its innovative product and technology solutions, Lenzing is a partner to global textile and nonwovens manufacturers and a driver of numerous new developments. The high-quality fibers form the basis for a variety of textile and nonwovens applications ranging from elegant women’s outerwear to versatile denims and high-performance sports clothing. Due to their consistent high quality as well as their biodegradability and compostability, Lenzing fibers are also highly suitable for hygiene products and agricultural applications.

Lenzing and cargo-partner are linked by a close and fruitful cooperation, which has been reflected in the intermodal execution of international sea transports for more than ten years. This includes the flexible and reliable handling of the fiber manufacturer’s transports from both Austrian plants in Lenzing and Heiligenkreuz as well as the production facility in Paskov in the Czech Republic. With the current rail transport solution, cargo-partner has once again proven its versatility when it comes to providing tailor-made solutions for its customers.