Greensboro - Unifi, Inc. is continuing to expand the global reach of its Repreve recycled fibre with a new manufacturing partnership in Vietnam.
Unifi has teamed up with Century Synthetic Fiber Corporation, which is now a licensed manufacturer of Repreve. Century Corporation will manufacture, sell and distribute Repreve filament yarn within Vietnam, with Unifi Textiles (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (UTSC) - Unifi’s subsidiary in China - managing sales and distribution of Repreve filament yarn exported from Vietnam.
It is intended that the collaboration will open distribution channels for Repreve in a key apparel-producing region, helping to fulfill increasing demand and shorten lead times to the company’s customer base.
Headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Century Synthetic Fiber Corporation is one of the largest polyester yarn manufacturers in Vietnam. Century Corporation was established more than 15 years ago and continues to invest in its operations and expand capacity today.
“Vietnam has been a region of focus for brands and retailers over the past few years,” said Tom Caudle, president of Unifi, Inc. “The growth in the region cannot be ignored, with exports of approximately US$27 billion of apparel and textiles in 2015, and expectations to grow to $30 billion in 2016. Within the past 18 months, we’ve grown distribution of Repreve to include Turkey, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and now, Vietnam.”
Jay Hertwig, vice president of global brand sales, marketing and product development for Unifi, added: “This is a strategic position in growing the global supply chain for Repreve and will allow us to expand into other Premium Value Added (PVA) products in the near future. A presence in Vietnam will enable Unifi to meet sourcing requests and increasing demand from our customers wherever they choose to do business.”
