Monforts Thermex has been installed at Chinese Lufeng
Chinese Lufeng Co Ltd forms part of Luthai Textile Co Ltd., one of China’s largest textile and garments producers and has taken the decision to invest in the Monforts Thermex 6500 continuous dyeing and finishing production line introduced at ITMA Barcelona (E)
The new Thermex 6500 can handle fabrics of up to 1.8 m, at which the machine capacity is 45 m and these were determinant factors for Lufeng to place the order with Monforts. Luthai and Lufeng are the largest customers for Monforts in China and some 45 Monforts machines were delivered over the past 20 yerars, including an earlier Thermex unit.
Luthai Textile (around 25000 people are employed), a vertically integrated firm, handling every aspect of produ tion to retailing its own-brand garments through its own stores, is based at Zibo City, Shandong Province, around an hour’s drive from the provincial capital of Jinan, and occupies a site on its own Luthai Industrial Zone. The investment for the Thermex 6500 was necessary when the company built its No 2 Finishing Mill late last year. The company has a production capoacity for yarn dyed fabric of 21.58 million metres /month and the shirt production capacity is 1.67 million pieces per month.
The machine is used for almost 100 % cotton fabrics and the cotton used is grown and processed by the group and of fine quality, the company owns 8671 hectares of organic cotton fields at Akesu, irrigated by the snow run-off from the nearby Tian Shan Mountain. The quality of Luthai’s brand name is also reflected in the retail prices in its own stores, where a gentleman’s short-sleeve shirt under the LT GRFF brand name typically costs around USD 95 or CNY 600. Luthai is one of the largest manufacturers of top-grade yarn-dyed fabric shirt facing materials in the world, with an annual output of 75 million metres. Product varieties include mainly purified cotton, CVC and T/C, while new varieties comprise cotton/cashmere and cotton/bamboo fibre.
The company is steadily innovating to serve customer’s needs and Thermex 6500 (three chamber dyeing unit, with each chamber having a 46 m capacity, and a total capacity of 135 m, and depending on fabric weight, the machine can run a t 40 to 50 m of fabric per minute) will help to enhance the business in new directions. It noteworthy to underline that Thermex 6500 is manufactured only in Germany at Monforts headquarters, while most of the other installed Monforts equipment has been manufactured by Monfongs, Monforts Chinese joint venture. The new machine was delivered and commissioned by K & E Company Ltd, Monforts representative for China and Hong Kong.
The firm exports fabrics and garments overseas, its biggest market is America with a share of production of 35 %, Europe has a share of 30 %, Japan 20 %, Korea 5 % and mainland China 5 %. Luthai is supplier to Brooks. Brothers, Marks & Spencer, Olymp, and it there is an agreement with the Alain Delon (French movie star) fashion brand to manufacture all its production for China.