Cerdia International

What Cerdia International does

Cerdia International GmbH is a global specialty chemicals manufacturer specializing in cellulose acetate products, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. The company operates five production sites across Germany (Freiburg, ~770 employees), Brazil (Santo André, ~140 employees), Russia (Serpukhov, ~145 employees), and the United States (Kingsport/Tennessee, ~80 employees), with a total global workforce of approximately 1,100 people. The portfolio is organized into three pillars: cellulose acetate flakes (the CellspherA family in rice grain, micro powder, and granule forms), filter tow for cigarette manufacturing (over 85 specifications including super crimped, slim, coloured, biodegradable DE-Tow, and hollow fiber variants), and ancillary services such as the proprietary 'Cable' filter design software and technical customer support. Cerdia supplies customers in 69 countries and reports approximately $750 million USD in annual revenue on its corporate website.

The company's core technology is the acetylation of wood pulp from PEFC/FSC-certified forests to produce cellulose acetate flakes and tow. Two production sites manufacture flakes (Freiburg, Kingsport) and three manufacture tow (Freiburg, Santo André, Serpukhov), with the largest facility in Freiburg spanning 40 hectares and including a 59 MW energy capacity with district heating supply to the city. The business model is B2B industrial sales with enterprise field sales motion targeting cigarette manufacturers (primary vertical) and industrial customers in bio-polymers, filtration, electronics, personal care, coatings, and healthcare membranes (secondary verticals). Revenue mechanics are quote-based bulk chemical and tow sales with no publicly disclosed pricing; customer relationships are anchored by long-term supply agreements, technical support services, and the 30-year-old Cable filter design tool, which was made available online to customers in 2024. A sustainability program is embedded across the operating model, including TÜV Austria-certified biodegradable DE-Tow, ISO 9001/14001/45001/SR-10 certifications at all sites, EcoVadis Silver Medal 2024, UN Global Compact membership (July 2024), and a 26,000-ton CO2/year savings biomass plant with GETEC commissioned at the end of 2024.

Cerdia traces its origins to 1912 (first cellulose acetate flake production in France) and operated under Rhodia/Solvay ownership for decades before being acquired by Blackstone in 2017 and rebranded from Rhodia Acetow to Cerdia in 2019, with the headquarters relocated to Basel. The current leadership team is led by CEO Jens Ebinghaus (since 2019, formerly of W.R. Grace and GCP Applied Technologies) and CFO Marco Plattner (since 2021, formerly of Archroma and Bühler), supported by long-tenured functional heads in manufacturing, sales, procurement, and R&D/sustainability.

Name

Cerdia International

Legal name

Cerdia International GmbH

Website

https://cerdia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1912

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Cerdia International is a Basel-headquartered global manufacturer of cellulose acetate filter tow and flakes, supplying 69 countries from production sites in Germany, Brazil, Russia, and the United States. Its primary customers are cigarette and tobacco manufacturers, with growing exposure to industrial applications including bio-polymers, filtration, electronics, personal care, and healthcare membranes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cellulose Acetate / Specialty Chemicals

NAICS

Resin, Synthetic Rubber, and Artificial and Synthetic Fibers and Filaments Manufacturing (3252), Resin and Synthetic Rubber Manufacturing (32521)

SIC

Plastic Material, Synth Resin/Rubber, Cellulos (No Glass) (2820)

akta.pro primary industry

Cellulose-Based Biodegradable Materials (cellulose films, fibers, derivatives) (IMAEAOAE)

Keywords

• Cellulose acetate manufacturing
• Filter tow production
• Biodegradable cigarette filters
• Industrial cellulose materials
• Specialty chemicals manufacturing

Headquarters

HQ city

Basel

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Cellulose Acetate Flakes Sales: Sale of cellulose acetate flakes (CellspherA) as raw material for various industrial applications including bio-polymers, filtration, electronics, personal care, coatings and membranes. One-time bulk product sales to industrial customers.
2. Filter Tow Sales: Sale of cellulose acetate filter tow to cigarette and tobacco manufacturers. Tow fibers are used to manufacture filter rods. Volume-based pricing with long-term supply relationships.
3. Technical Services and Support: Technical customer support including development of customized solutions, on-site support, filter design engineering, seminars and practical training at Filter Centre.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cerdia International manufactures cellulose acetate flakes and filter tow, primarily for the global cigarette filter industry. With over 85 tow specifications produced across three geographic locations, Cerdia supplies standard, slim, coloured, biodegradable, and coarse denier filter tow products. The company also offers cellulose acetate solutions (CellspherA) for industrial applications in bio-polymers, filtration, electronics, personal care, coatings, and healthcare membranes, along with technical customer support and the Cable filter design software.

Product overview

Cerdia International is a global manufacturer specializing in cellulose acetate products with over 100 years of experience. The product portfolio consists of three main pillars: (1) Cellulose Acetate Flakes - the foundational raw material, including CellspherA variants (rice grain flakes, micro powder, and granules); (2) Cerdia Filter Tow - over 85 specialized tow fiber specifications including standard, super/micro slim, coloured, DE-Tow (biodegradable), hollow fiber, and coarse denier variants for cigarette filter manufacturing; and (3) Services including the Cable filter design tool, technical customer support, and customer service. The company operates manufacturing facilities in Germany, Brazil, USA, and Russia, supplying customers in 69 countries worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cerdia Filter Tow: Filter tow products including super crimped tow, super and micro slim tow, coloured tow, faster biodegradable tow, and coarse denier tow
• Cerdia DE-Tow
• Cerdia Coloured Tow
• Cerdia Hollow Fiber
• CellspherA
• CellspherA Micro
• CellspherA Granules

Products and services

• Cellulose Acetate Foundational cellulose acetate product made from natural biopolymer cellulose by modification with acetic acid. Biodegradable under various environmental conditions, used for filter tow, films, filaments, fabrics, nonwoven, coatings, membranes, and sheets. Sold to industrial manufacturers across multiple sectors.
• CellspherA Native cellulose acetate flake form in the shape of rice grain. Certified biodegradable polymer ideal for bio-polymers, filtration, electronics, personal care, coatings, and membranes for healthcare.
• CellspherA Micro Cellulose acetate powder with various particle sizes suitable for bio-polymers, filtration, membranes, electronics, coatings, and personal care applications such as skin care, sun care, color cosmetics, or exfoliation.
• CellspherA Granules Cellulose acetate compound in granular intermediate product shape with added plasticizers, antioxidants, and process improvers offering improved handling, enhanced processability, and customization for specific requirements.
• Cerdia Filter Tow Filter tow fibers produced in over 85 specifications across 3 geographic locations. Used in cigarette filter manufacturing with various specialized variants.
• Cerdia Super and Micro Slim Tow Specialized tow products created for slim filter design, focused on low diameter filters for fine design applications.
• Cerdia DE-Tow (Biodegradable Filter Tow) Titanium dioxide free filter tow for faster biodegradability requirements. Biodegradable in soil, industrial compost, home compost, water and marine water. Certified by TÜV Austria. Equivalent processability to standard tow.
• Cerdia Coloured Tow Range of coloured filter tow for special appearance filter design, providing differentiation for manufacturing of coloured filters.
• Cerdia Cellulose Acetate Hollow Fiber Cellulose Acetate Hollow Fiber produced from wood pulp - a renewable and biodegradable alternative to oil-based fibers such as polyester, polypropylene or polyamides. Features outstanding insulation and liquid absorption properties for industrial applications.
• Cable Filter Design Software IT application widely used in the industry for design and manufacturing of filter rods for over 30 years. Online version available to customers since 2024. Facilitates efficient implementation of new functions, filter variants, and filter rod machines.
• Technical Customer Support Services Technical support including development of customized solutions, global service and on-site support, filter design and engineering, seminars with practical training, and sustainable process consultation. Available to industrial and cigarette manufacturer customers globally.

Quantifiable outcome

• 26,000 tons CO2 emissions saved per year through biomass heating plant partnership with GETEC
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• GETECcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership with GETEC for biomass heating plant at Cerdia's Freiburg production site. GETEC built a state-of-the-art biomass plant that generates sustainable heat and energy, saving 26,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. Plant commissioned end of 2024. Uses wood waste from untreated woods (A I and A II categories) as biofuel.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Celanese Corporation: Celanese acquired the DuPont Mobility & Materials and Acetate Products businesses, making it a leading global cellulose acetate tow and flake producer serving cigarette and industrial customers. Directly competes with Cerdia across tow specifications, flake grades, and industrial cellulose acetate applications.
• Daicel Corporation: Daicel is one of the world's largest producers of cellulose acetate tow for cigarette filters, with manufacturing operations across Japan and Asia. Directly competes with Cerdia in tow specifications and serves many of the same global tobacco manufacturers in the Asian and emerging market regions.
• Eastman Chemical Company: Eastman produces cellulose acetate tow and cellulose-based specialty plastics under its Fibers and Advanced Materials segments. Competes with Cerdia in acetate tow for filters and in cellulose-based specialty materials for industrial applications including filtration and personal care.
• Mitsubishi Chemical Group: Mitsubishi Chemical produces cellulose acetate tow and cellulose triacetate for cigarette filters and industrial films, particularly serving Asian tobacco manufacturers. Comparable product portfolio, manufacturing technology, and customer overlap with Cerdia's global filter tow business.
• Acordis Cellulosic Fibers: Acordis produces specialty cellulose fibers including acetate tow precursors for cigarette filters and industrial applications. Operates in a similar European manufacturing footprint and competes for industrial cellulose specialty customers alongside Cerdia's CellspherA and Hollow Fiber product lines.
• Huvis Corporation: Huvis is a Korean specialty chemical manufacturer producing polyester and cellulose acetate fibers for industrial and textile applications. Comparable in specialty cellulose fiber manufacturing technology and serves adjacent nonwoven, filtration, and industrial fiber markets where Cerdia competes.

Broad incumbents

• Solvay SA: Solvay was the prior corporate parent of Rhodia Acetow (now Cerdia) until Blackstone's 2017 acquisition. As a global specialty chemicals major, Solvay remains comparable in cellulose chemistry and broader specialty polymers and overlaps with Cerdia's industrial cellulose acetate customer base.

Emerging players

• Sateri: Sateri is one of the world's largest producers of viscose and lyocell cellulose fibers for textiles and nonwovens. While not directly in cigarette tow, Sateri competes in the broader cellulose-based fiber and biodegradable materials space where Cerdia is expanding via CellspherA and Hollow Fiber.
• SK Chemicals: SK Chemicals produces specialty polymers and biodegradable plastics including copolyester and bio-based materials. Overlaps with Cerdia's industrial cellulose acetate strategy in bio-polymers, packaging films, and sustainable materials targeting similar end-customers.

Others

• Blackstone Inc. Blackstone is Cerdia's parent company and private equity sponsor since 2017. Listed as an ecosystem participant, not a direct competitor; relevant for understanding ownership structure, capital allocation discipline, and likely exit path (IPO or strategic sale) which shapes Cerdia's valuation and strategic direction.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@cerdia5050
• Facebookfacebook.com/cerdiacareer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cerdia
• Instagraminstagram.com/cerdia.de

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cerdia International