In an update on Woodspin's first commercial-scale facility producing wood-based fibre, Spinnova has said the development process is progressing and recent tests have been successful with a rollout expected this year.

Spinnova’s CEO Tuomas Oijala said: “We are pleased that Suzano has passed some important milestones related to the MFC raw material development.

“Spinnova continues to finalise the fibre and textile material development work so that fibre deliveries from Woodspin to customers, made from Suzano MFC, can begin in the coming months.”

Spinnova and Suzano are engaged in a continuous effort to enhance the overall efficiency of the production process. This involves streamlining the operating expenses and capital expenditures associated with Suzano's raw material process and Spinnova's process to position Woodspin into commercial-scale production in future plants.

The facility was first announced in May 2023 as the first industrial operation Suzano had outside of Brazil.

It was also previously announced the initial production volumes of Woodspin's first factory were expected to be limited in the short term. Woodspin was said to produce 1,000 tonnes of sustainable, recyclable and fully biodegradable textile fibre from responsibly-gown wood each year.

Spinnova fibre spun at Woodspin’s facility is produced from wood pulp made from certified, sustainably grown eucalyptus trees. All pulp is sourced from Suzano, which has a strict zero deforestation policy and only plants on land that were previously degraded.

Christian Orglmeister, executive director of new business at Suzano described the eucalyptus pulp at the time as having a “radically lower environmental impact than alternative fibres such as cotton, offering one of the few genuinely scalable solutions to support sustainable production.”

The company pointed out the wood-based Spinnova fibre had previously been used by global fashion brands such as Adidas, H&M Group’s Arket, Marimekko and Jack&Jones. 

In its latest update Spinnova explained it is dedicated to testing MFC batches and optimising the entire production process. Despite this, the market opportunity and shared ambition with Suzano to scale Woodspin's production capacity with future plants remain unchanged.