The invention relates to a process for making high-performance
polyethylene multi-filament yarn comprising the steps of a) making a
solution of ultra-high molar mass polyethylene in a solvent; b) spinning
of the solution through a spinplate containing at least 5 spinholes into
an air-gap to form fluid filaments, while applying a draw ratio
DR.sub.fluid; c) cooling the fluid filaments to form solvent-containing
gel filaments; d) removing at least partly the solvent from the
filaments; and e) drawing the filaments in at least one step before,
during and/or after said solvent removing, while applying a draw ratio
DR.sub.solid of at least 4, wherein in step b) each spinhole comprises a
contraction zone of specific dimension and a downstream zone of diameter
D.sub.n and length D.sub.n with L.sub.n/D.sub.n of from 0 to at most 25,
to result in a draw ratio DR.sub.fluid=DR.sub.sp*DR.sub.ag of at least
150, wherein DR.sub.sp is the draw ratio in the spinholes and DR.sub.ag
is the draw ratio in the air-gap, with DR.sub.sp being greater than 1 and
DR.sub.ag at least 1. The invention further relates to a high-performance
polyethylene multifilament yarn, and to semi-finished or end-use products
containing said yarn, especially to ropes and ballistic-resistant
composites.