Business review puts Woodspin’s future in doubt
Fibre developer Spinnova has warned that its Woodspin joint venture could close down.
A partnership it set up in 2021 with Brazilian wood-pulp group Suzano to scale up production of its wood-based fibre led to the creation of Woodspin.
A year ago, Spinnova said it would share its technology, which uses fibre suspension flows to make cellulose fibres for textiles from renewable materials, with Suzano. The plan was for Suzano to develop, own and operate a new production facility in Brazil for the production of the fibres, with the capacity to make 20,000 tonnes per year.
However, in November 2024, the two companies announced a delay to this project and in February 2025 Suzano said it was pulling out. This prompted an in-depth review of the Woodspin business and it is this review that has now led to Spinnova’s warning about Woodspin’s future.
It said Woodspin had made a loss of €6.7 million in 2024 but had a book value at year-end of €19.4 million.
But it explained that Woodspin, which is the exclusive producer and distributor of wood-based Spinnova fibre, has “a heavy cost structure” and that its operations are unprofitable. The Finnish company added that making these operations profitable was likely to require significant investment, and that its chances of securing the necessary finance were uncertain.
It said the entire staff working at Woodspin, a total of 33 employees, face possible redundancy.
