MAE

What MAE does

MAE S.p.A. is an Italian machinery manufacturer founded in 1968 and headquartered in Piacenza, Italy, specializing in engineering and production equipment for chemical fibers, with Carbon Fiber PAN Precursor as its stated core business. The company designs and builds complete plants across lab, pilot, and industrial scales for wet spinning, PAN polymerization, melt spinning of thermoplastic polymers, and carbonization, including proprietary modules such as the SSOLVE MINI lab-scale spinning line and a solvent recovery system that recovers 99.5% of solvents used in carbon fiber production. Its technology base includes over 100 wet spinning lines and 25+ PAN precursor lines operating worldwide, supported by an ISO 9001-certified 4,600 m² workshop and a 12,000 m² R&D hub under construction.

MAE operates a B2B enterprise field-sales model, selling complete plants, equipment, engineering services, and technology licenses directly to industrial clients globally. It maintains wholly-owned subsidiaries in Shanghai (since 2005, 30+ staff), the USA (MAE USA Corp.), and India (MAE Future India), and reported that exports covered over 95% of turnover with Asian contracts representing approximately 50% of revenues. Major disclosed customers include Leonardo (€17M pilot plant, 2021), a Chinese PAN precursor buyer (€73.5M contract, 2021), Jindal Advanced Materials (India project, 2024), and CSIRO (Australia, custom wet spinning line for precursor research). Pricing is negotiated contract-by-contract with no public pricing; financial partners include UniCredit and SACE, and research partners include CNR, Aviorec, and Invitalia.

The company's strategic posture is shifting from traditional man-made fiber machinery (acrylic, viscose, PET, where it historically supplied Montefibre, SNIA, and ENI) toward higher-value carbon fiber and aerospace applications, anchored by the 2023 Galileo demonstrative plant (LAMPO project with Leonardo), the September 2025 ZFJ carbonization partnership in China, and a strategic JV for an international R&D hub featuring graphitization. Leadership consists of President Marco Rovellini, CFO Paola Rovellini, and Robert M. Blackmon as General Manager of MAE USA Corp., suggesting family-controlled private ownership with no disclosed institutional investor.

Name

MAE

Legal name

MAE S.p.A.

Website

https://maeliz.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

MAE S.p.A. is an Italian machinery manufacturer (founded 1968) that designs and builds complete plants for chemical fiber production, with Carbon Fiber PAN Precursor as its core business. It sells wet spinning, polymerization, melt spinning, and carbonization equipment plus engineering services to global industrial customers across aerospace, automotive, energy, and textile sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Piacenza

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Complete Plant Sales: Design, construction, and installation of complete production lines and plants for monomers, polymers, fibers, and foams processing. Includes PAN precursor plants, carbonization plants, and wet/melt spinning lines from lab scale to industrial scale.
2. Equipment Manufacturing: Manufacturing and supply of individual machinery units and components including creels, coagulation baths, dryers, winders, and specialized equipment for fiber production
3. Engineering and Technical Services: Extended services ranging from process design to assembly, installation, testing, and post-commissioning support for complete production lines
4. Technology Licensing: Licensing of proprietary technologies including polymerization processes and spinning know-how developed over decades of experience

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MAE designs and manufactures complete production plants and individual units for monomers, polymers, fibers and foams processing, with Carbon Fiber PAN Precursor as its core business. The company delivers turnkey wet spinning lines, PAN polymerization systems (with proprietary solvent recovery), melt spinning lines for thermoplastic polymers, pilot plants (including lab-scale SSOLVE MINI), and carbonization plants, alongside extended services from process design to assembly, installation, testing, and post-commissioning support. Solutions are offered at lab, pilot, and industrial scales for chemical fiber and carbon fiber manufacturers worldwide.

Product overview

MAE is a machinery manufacturing company specializing in engineering and manufacturing units and complete production lines for monomers and polymers processing into fibers or foams. The core product portfolio centers on Carbon Fiber PAN Precursor production across all scales: Lab Scale (SSOLVE MINI), Pilot Scale, and Industrial Scale. Supporting product lines include Wet Spinning Technology for PAN fiber and precursor production, PAN Polymerization with solvent recovery systems, Melt Spinning Lines for thermoplastic polymers, and Carbonization Plants with key equipment. Extended services range from process design to assembly, installation, testing, and post-commissioning support. The company also operates the Galileo Design and Experimentation Centre for carbon fiber research and development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Galileo: MAE's design and experimentation centre hosting Italy's first demonstrative facility for the production of high-performance Carbon Fiber. Result of strategic collaboration with Leonardo S.p.A., CNR, and Invitalia.
• SSOLVE MINI

Products and services

• Wet Spinning Technology Industrial wet spinning lines for textile PAN fiber production and PAN precursor fibers, used by chemical fiber and carbon fiber manufacturers worldwide. Includes dope filters, coagulation baths, washing units, and finish application devices.
• PAN Polymerization Solvent recovery units and specialized equipment for PAN polymerization, including dope preparation units, jacketed filter presses, polymer slurry filters, suspension and solution PAN reactors, and thin film evaporators for high viscosity fluids. For carbon fiber and chemical fiber producers.
• Melt Spinning Lines for Thermoplastic Polymers Complete melt spinning lines for thermoplastic polymers for chemical fiber producers, including spinning beams, take-up walls, finish applicators, quenching chambers, winders, and complete PET fiber draw lines.
• Pilot Plants for PAN Precursor Turnkey PAN precursor production solutions at lab scale (SSOLVE MINI, 0.1-0.5 kg/h capacity) and pilot scale for small lot production. Includes complete polymerization and spinning packages with modular scale-up design for various fiber types.
• Carbonization Plants Equipment for carbonization lines including creels, moisturizing baths, motorized creels, oven superstructures, carbon fiber bobbin handling systems, fiber tensioning systems, surface treatments, non-contact dryers, and sizing baths for industrial carbon fiber producers.
• SSOLVE MINI Lab Scale System Solution Spinning Optimized Laboratory Versatile Equipment for chemical fiber spinning — a laboratory line combining industrial construction quality with R&D flexibility. Features continuous production capability and modular configuration for wet spinning and air-gap wet spinning, sold as a standalone lab-scale offering for fiber producers and research institutions.
• Galileo Design and Experimentation Centre MAE's design and experimentation center hosting Italy's first demonstrative facility for high-performance carbon fiber production, with optimized chemical recipes and 99.5% solvent recovery. Built within the LAMPO project in collaboration with Leonardo and CNR with Invitalia support, it serves industrial and research clients seeking to validate processes before full-scale plant investment.
• Engineering and Technical Services Extended services ranging from process design to assembly, installation, testing, and post-commissioning support for complete production lines and plants delivered by MAE. Sold alongside MAE plant and machinery projects to industrial clients worldwide.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95%+ export share with main markets in China, Russia and Finland
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Zhengzhou Textile Machinery Co. Ltd. (ZFJ)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 September 2025Cooperation agreement signed September 15, 2025 to optimize and advance technology and construction of carbon fiber carbonization plants. The partnership aims to establish new standards of quality, efficiency, and reliability for the industry.
• Jindal Advanced MaterialsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 March 2024Project Framework Agreement signed at JEC Paris for establishing carbon fiber plant in India along with intermediates and carbon fiber composites. MAE provides engineering expertise and equipment; project expected to be operational within 30 months covering entire value chain from PAN-precursor to carbon fiber.
• Leonardo SpAflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 October 2021Strategic collaboration for pilot carbon fiber plant construction (€17 million) in Piacenza as part of LAMPO project for aerospace sector. Leonardo invested in the plant for developing advanced composites technology with automated defect detection and correction capabilities.
• CNR (National Research Council)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in Galileo project providing scientific support for development of first Italian demonstrative carbon fiber production plant.
• AvioreccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAerospace company participating in Galileo project collaboration with Leonardo, CNR, and MAE for carbon fiber production development.
• CSIROcoreTechnology or IntegrationAustralian scientific organization for which MAE built custom wet spinning line for carbon fiber precursor research, launched in 2017.
• Astris CarboncoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partnership providing proven wet spinning technology combined with MAE's industrial experience for PAN precursor processing in lab and pilot scale lines.
• CRA and Italo RotaminorOthersDesign collaboration for MAE Museum dedicated to carbon fiber, built using recycled fiber to showcase material's ecological potential.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Toray Industries: Toray is the world's largest PAN-based carbon fiber producer and a potential customer/partner profile for MAE's PAN precursor and carbonization equipment. While not a machinery peer, Toray represents the kind of integrated carbon fiber platform MAE supplies equipment into.
• Teijin: Teijin is a Japanese carbon fiber and aramid fiber producer with proprietary PAN precursor technology. Comparable to MAE as a downstream customer/ecosystem participant — Teijin represents the demand side of the carbon fiber equipment market that MAE serves.
• SGL Carbon: SGL Carbon is a European carbon fiber producer (rather than equipment manufacturer). It is comparable to MAE as a downstream customer profile — companies that would purchase PAN precursor and carbonization equipment — and shares MAE's positioning in the European advanced materials supply chain.
• Lenzing: Austrian Lenzing is a global producer of man-made cellulosic fibers (viscose, modal, lyocell). It is comparable to MAE as a downstream user of chemical fiber production equipment — Lenzing represents the type of fiber producer MAE historically supplied (with technology roots at SNIA/Montefibre/ENI) and continues to target.

Broad incumbents

• Andritz: Austrian Andritz is a broad industrial process machinery group with a Nonwoven & Textile division that supplies fiber and filament processing lines. While Andritz's portfolio is broader than MAE's, it competes in adjacent segments of the chemical and carbon fiber production equipment market.

Direct peers

• Truetzschler: Truetzschler is a leading German textile machinery manufacturer specializing in fiber preparation, spinning preparation, and nonwoven lines. Its overlap with MAE lies in fiber processing and filament line equipment, particularly in the man-made fiber production chain.
• SAURER: SAURER is a German-Swiss textile machinery group with offerings spanning fiber processing, spinning, and twisting. SAURER's fiber processing portfolio overlaps with MAE's wet spinning and PAN precursor capabilities, particularly in European and Asian markets.
• Oerlikon: Swiss-based Oerlikon operates the Barmag and Neumag brands, which are leading suppliers of man-made fiber spinning systems (melt spinning, texturing, BCF) used in chemical fiber production globally. Oerlikon is MAE's most direct large-scale competitor in synthetic and carbon fiber precursor machinery.
• TMT Machinery: Japan-based TMT Machinery is one of the world's largest manufacturers of synthetic fiber spinning machinery, including draw-texturing and spinning systems for polyester, nylon, and PAN precursor fibers. TMT competes head-to-head with MAE in PAN precursor and chemical fiber production lines, particularly across Asian markets.

Regional players

• Zhengzhou Textile Machinery (ZFJ): Zhengzhou Textile Machinery is a major Chinese textile machinery manufacturer with which MAE signed a September 2025 cooperation agreement to advance carbonization plant technology. ZFJ is a regional competitor in China and a strategic partner, offering overlapping chemical fiber and emerging carbon fiber equipment capabilities in the Chinese market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 MAE