for Akzona Incorporated (the holding company of Akzo). In the 1980s the patent was licensed by Akzo to Courtaulds and Lenzing.

The fibre was developed by Courtaulds Fibres under the brand name "Tencel" in the 1980s. In 1982, a 100-kg/week pilot plant was built in Coventry, England, and production increased tenfold (to a ton/week) in 1984. In 1988, a 25-ton/week semi-commercial production line opened at the