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million spunbond line. The investment
will add more than 7000 tons of polyester spun-bond
nonwovens to be sold
as backings for bituminous roofing membranes and for other
specialty
construction applications.The Russian site was established in 2004 and
production started
there in 2006.
Freudenberg Filtration Technologies
www.freudenberg-filter.com
Spun off from Freudenberg Nonwovens two years ago, Freudenberg
Filtration Technologies is
Freudengerg Nonwovens' largest customer
and a key supplier of innovative filtration solutions
worldwide.
Freudenberg Filters are used successfully for intake, exhaust and
recirculating air
filtration in many industrial applications such as
production, office and residential ventilation and in
the transport
segment.
Meanwhile, In liquid filtration, these filters are used in cool and
and lubrication applications, pool
and spa, beverages and foodstuffs and
products for the manufacture of membranes and filter
candles.
In 2010, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies was able to increase
its sales from [euro]194 to
[pounds sterling]241 million as many of its
markets recovered and the businesss progressed in
acquiring new
customers and expanding its Viledon product portfolio.
In September 2010, Freudenberg acquired the Australian company
Micro Fresh Filters, which is
now known as Freudenberg Filtration
Technologies (Aust) Pty.The company is one of the market
leaders in
filtration technology for the mining industry and it is allowing the
group to expand its
portfolio and lay the groundwork for further
expansion in Australia and Oceania.
Also contributing to growth in 2010 was the launch of micron Air
office fine dust filter for document
shredders. This launch is supposed
to follow the same successful path as mcironAir cabin air filters
which
provide cleaner air inside of cars. Demand for these filters continue to
growth particularly in
South America and Asia.
2. Dupont Nonwoven
Wilmington, DE, USA www.dupont.com 2010 nonwovens sales: $1.4
billion
Key Personnel
Thomas Powell, president of DuPont Protection Technologies; Roger
Siemionko, vice president and
global technology leader, DuPont
Protection Technologies; Mindy Telliard, global product
manager,
Sontara, DuPont Protection Technologies; Michael Sanders, global
business manager,
Energy Storage Solutions, DuPont Protection
Technologies.
Plants
Richmond, VA (Tyvek, HMT), USA. Old Hickory,TN, USA (spun-lace,
Suprel, Softesse), Luxembourg
(Tyvek, Typar), Asturias, Spain (spunlacc)
Shenzhen, China (Tyvek and spunlace converting facility),
Seoul, Brazil
joint venture (spunlace), Chesterfield County, VA, USA (Energain)
ISO Status
All plants are ISO 9002 certified, Luxembourg facility is also 9001
certified
Processes
Flashspun (Tyvek), spunbond (Typar), spunlace, Energain
Brand Names
Tyvek, Tychem, Sontara, Suprel, Softesse, Typar
Major Markets
Construction, healthcare, protective apparel, industrial
filtration, absorbents, home furnishings,
envelopes, geotextiles,
graphics, packaging, footwear, automotive, batten,' separators
Recover continued in 2010 for DuPont as many of its core businesses
came back from the global
recession. While the Wilmington, DE-based
maker of Tyvek and Sontara nonwovens refuses to break
out its nonwovens
sales globally industry estimates put the figure in excess of $1.4
billion, making
it the world's second largest maker of nonwovens.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Size, however, is not important to DuPont. The technology-focused
company aims for innovation and
its steady stream of new product
introductions and line extensions has reflected this in recent
years.
Among its most notable introductions are Energain battery separators,
metallized Tyvek
flashspun nonwovens and Nomex KD filtration media.
"Our strategy is not to have the most revenue--that would be
nice--but we really look for where our
technology brings value to the
customers," says Thomas Powell, president of DuPont
Protection
Technologies."We are heavily focused on innovation for our means to
grow."
DuPont Protection Technologies combines the company's
nonwovens businesses with its sister
units, including Kevlar and Nomex
aramid technologies. Created in late 2009, this new organization
groups
together technologies and products that protect lives, the environment
and critical
processes worldwide, Powell explains. By grouping together
the nonwovens technologies with
aramid technologies, DuPont hopes to
capitalize on synergies already existing between the
businesses while
also streamlining costs, support and other infrastructure items. The
marriage was
part of a larger, company-wide streamlining that brought
the number of DuPont business units from
25 to 14 and allows the company
to more easily respond to customer trends.
"We definitely see a lot of leverage. We are focused on three
value propositions, protecting people,
protecting the environment and
protecting critical processes. While doing this, we support
megatrends,
like reducing energy consumption and growing in emerging
economies,"Powell says.
While no major product introductions have been born out of the new
group, yet, DuPont's Nomex
KD, a filtration medium that combines
Nomex and Kevlar fibers in a unique nonwovens filter
material, is an
example of how DuPont's technologies can work together to target
new market
opportunities. Nomex KD is well suited for high-temperature
applications such as asphalt
production and cement clinker coolers.
Moving on to other areas of new products development, battery
separators is an area strong on
DuPont's radar. Last year, the
company built a pilot line in Chesterfield County, VA, USA to
make
Energain battery' separator materials. Once referred to as Hybrid
Membrane Technology'
(HMT), Energain is based on DuPont's
nanofiber technology. DuPont purchased a form of this
technology four
years ago from a Korean company and had been piloting it in a Korean
facility
under the Hybrid Membrane Technology (HMT) moniker, but changes
in the technology' and
business strategy led to a new brand
Energain. DuPont decided to move the production of Energain
to North
America to speed the technology development, Powell explains.
Energain will initially be made on a pilot scale to give potential
customers a chance to see the
benefits the technology can add to battery
separators--including increased power, improved battery
life and higher
stability at increased temperatures. According to Powell, decisions
regarding
expanding the capacity on a commercial level will be made in
2012. Beyond lithium battery
separators, Energain could also be targeted
for batteries in renewable energy, grid applications,
specialty consumer
applications including laptops, cell phones and power tools. DuPont
estimates
that the market for high performance lithium batteries will be
more than $7 million by 2015, driven
by increased use of electric
vehicles.
"Battery storage or energy storage is driven by the mega trend
of electrification of vehicles," Powell
says."Energain offers
unique properties which can extend batter" life between charges.
We need to demonstrate scale-up of the technology and provide large
samples for customer
qualification.That is why we invested in this
line."
Meanwhile, DuPont's traditional businesses remain strong.The
company's Tyvek flashspun
technology is benefiting from technology
advancements that offer metallization and other finishing
techniques--up
and running at the DuPont Luxembourg site--which is leading to new
products being
introduced initially in Japan and Europe, and, while the
US construction market continues to lag,
executives are confident that
the strength of Tyvek in this market will position it for growth
once
the market rebounds. Other important markets for Tyvek include
protective apparel and
medical packaging."We are fortunate to
participate in a lot of steady businesses that are less
affected by the
economy/'Powell says.
In fact, it is in bad times that some of its businesses benefit the
most.Take for instance,Tyvek's role
in protective apparel
applications. Over the years, threats of disease, terrorism and other
disasters
have advanced sales in this market and most recently it's
been the Japanese earthquake and
tsunami--and resulting cleanup--that
has helped grow sales."When there is a disaster in the world,
they
need garments to protect workers and that's where DuPont can step
in,"Powell says.
It is the same with its medical garment business, where it offers
sophisticated products to keep
workers safe and comfortable. In 2010,
however, DuPont gave up on one technology it once deemed
revolutionary
when it abandoned ACT (Advance Composite Technology)- According to
executives,
advancements in competing technology made it difficult for
the company to fetch a reasonable price
for the substrate, which
combined the softness of polypropylene with the barrier
protection
benefits of polyester. The company ceased operation of the technology in
its Old
Hickory, TN, site but continues to target the medical market
with its Sontara spunlace fabric."There
is no question that the
medical business is a challenge," Powell says."But, the demand
continues to
be there and wc still think that Sontara is a premium
offering."
DuPont's Sontara spunlace nonwovens target a number of markets
beyond medical fabrics. One of
these is the high performance wipes
market where DuPont has had a number of home runs
including car
detailing wipes, aerospace wipes and other areas where innovation can be
valued. At
the same time, however, DuPont has opted to stay clear of the
consumer wipes market.
Also benefitting DuPont wipes is the green story. Because Sontara
can be made from sustainable
products, such as wood pulp or rayon,
companies looking to offer a more sustainable story in their
wipes
business are taking advantage of this option.
"We are not going to be the massive producer on the spunlace
side. We are looking for areas where
our products and brands add
value,"Powell says.
Business-wide, DuPont is not only looking for markets where it can
add value but also at new
regions. While most of its nonwovens-related
assets are based in North America and Europe, that
does not mean that
Asian growth isn't a high priority. In fact, of all of the regions,
Asia is the most
important, according to Powell."It's a high
priority because of the factors around population and
increasing
purchasing power. Right now, DuPont has limited assets in Asia but we
don't believe
when you are an innovation-driven business you need
to have assets all over the world. We have
very competitive, large scale
assets and we can efficiently move material around the world."
3. Ahlstrom
Helsinki, Finland
www.ahlstrom.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $1.35 billion
Key Personnel
Jan Lang, president & CEO; Risto Anttonen, deputy of the
president & CEO; Laura Raitio, executive
vice president, Building
and Energy; jean-Marie Becker, executive vice president, Home
and
Personal; William Casey, executive vice president, Food and Medical;
Tommi Bjomman,
executive vice president, Filtration; Patrick Jeambar,
executive vice president, Label and
Processing; Paula Aarnio, executive
vice president, human resources & sustainability; Claudio
Ermondi,
executive vice president, product & technology development; Seppo
Parvi, chief financial
officer; Rami Raulas, executive vice president,
sales & marketing
Processes
Needlepunch, resin bonded, spunlaced, nanofiber,
spun-melt/spunbond, wetlaid, wetlaid/Hydraspun,
wetlaid/spunlace
composite, composite nonwovens, wetlaid/Trinitex, SPC, Caustic
Entanglement,
film based composites, process enhancements.
Plants
Alicante, Spain, Barcelona, Spain, Bethunc, SC, USA, Binzhou,
China, Bishopville, SC, USA,
Bousbecque, France, Brignoud, France,
Chirnside, UK, Cressa, Italy, Green Bay, WI, USA, Hyun
Poong, South
Korea, Jacarei, Brazil, Karhula, Finland, Kauttua, Finland, Pont Eveque,
France,
Louveira, Brazil, Madisonville, KY, USA, Malmedy, Belgium,
Mikkeli, Finland, Mozzate, Italy, Mt
Holly Springs, PA, USA, Mundra,
India, Osnabruck, Germany, Paulinia, Brazil, Pont-Audemer,
France, Saint
Severin, France, Sas-soferrato, Italy, Stalldalen, Sweden, Stenay,
France,Tampere,
Finland, Taylorville, IL,Turin, Italy,Tver, Russia, West
Carrollton, OH, USA, Windsor Locks, CT,
USA
Major Markets
Wipes, filtration, walkover, building, automotive, labels, food
packaging, and medical
Among the recent headlines made by Ahlstrom is the company's
plan to divest its entire wipes
business to Suominen in a deal valued at
[euro]170 million, which will also make Ahlstrom
Suominen's largest
shareholder. In announcing the sale of wipes, an area where Ahlstrom has
put
considerable resources during the last five years, the company said
it part of a plan toward a more
focused business product
portfolio."We have been building our business portfolio based on
offering
high performance materials that allow our customers to
differentiate and create value to their
customers. We will continue to
seek growth and global leadership in all segments in which we
operate.
This transaction allows us to free resources to strengthening and
further developing our
current businesses, especially in the
fast-growing markets in Asia,"said president and CEO Jan Lang
in
August.
Ahlstrom's wipes business operates as its Home and Personal
business area. With plants in
Wisconsin, Spain, Italy and Brazil, this
business generated sales of about [euro]291 million and
profits of
[euro]6.1 million last year.
Looking back on 2010, the company reported an 18% increase in total
sales, led by 47% growth in
Asia.
During the past five years, Ahlstrom has invested heavily across a
number of nonwovens platforms
and geographical regions, catapulting it
to one of the top of nonwovens producers in the world. For
all intents
and purposes, the company operates through five divisions, Filtration,
Home and
Personal (mainly wipes), Building and Energy, Food and Medical
and Label and Processing. Nonwovens comprise all or a part of all but
the Label and Processing division, accounting for about 55%
of the
company's total [euro]1.82 billion in global sales last year,
according to estimates. From an
end use standpoint, key markets continue
to be consumer wipes, air and liquid filtration, wall
coverings,
construction, teabags, food packaging, medical, automotives and wind
energy.
These many market areas have benefited from an ambitious growth
strategy--including investments
and acquisitions--during the past five
to 10 years, that has tapered off more recently as Ahlstrom
seeks to
benefit from these investments.
"Following our IPO in 2006, Ahlstrom invested about [euro]500
million, of which about half was
spent on acquisitions, into growth
initiatives,"says Liisa Nyyssonen, vice president of
corporate
communications. "We are now working on getting the benefit from
those investments and
think that our base is very strong to achieve this
based on our redefined strategy'."
However, investment in Asia continues to be a top priority. In
recent months, Ahlstrom has added to
its capabilities for filtration and
wall coverings there, beefing up a business that already
includes
facilities in India and Korea. This investment streak started in
September 2010 when
Ahlstrom bought Shandong Puri Filter & Paper
Products Ltd. in China from the Purico Group. The
C22.5 million price
included a plant in Binzhou in the province of Shandong in northeastern
China.
In June, Ahlstrom added to this site by investing [euro]30 million
in a new nonwoven wallcovering
substrates production line at its Binzhou
plant in China, where the company is already
manufacturing filtration
materials. Deliveries from the new line are expected to start early
2013.
According to Lang, the investment plays a significant role in the
company's growth strategy in Asia.
"Ahlstrom has a strong
presence in Europe and Americas, and we continue to grow our presence
in
Asia as well. China is expected to be the world's largest market
for wallcoveringss in a few years
time, offering a significant growth
potential in the coming years."
"We will use Ahlstrom's extensive know how and experience
in walkover manufacturing in
responding to the market needs in China. We
are extremely pleased that we will have the
opportunity to grow together
with and serve our customers from a local production plant in
China,"
says Laura Raitio, executive vice president, Building and
Energy, Ahlstrom.
In addition to Binzhou, Ahlstrom has two manufacturing sites in
Asia; Hyun Poong in South Korea
and Mundra in India. The company sold a
site located in Wuxi, China, along with three lines located
in Bethune,
SC, USA, to Andrew Industries in December as part of a plan to exit the
dust filtration
business.
"After a careful strategic review of our product portfolio, it
was determined that dust filtration did
not fit our product
portfolio," says Tommi Bjornman, F.VP, Filtration.
The assets, which were sold for [euro]5.3 million, make dust
filtration materials used in applications
such as bag house filtration
for pollution control.
Despite this divestment, filtration continues to serve as a
straight growth engine for Ahlstrom,
representing 18% growth for the
company. As it continues to move beyond its traditional
engine
filtration business into new areas such as HVAC, high efficiency and
liquid filtration areas,
Ahlstrom still considers filtration part of its
value-add business cluster. One area receiving
considerable attention
has been in liquid filtration with Disruptor and Disruptor PAC,
high
performance water filtration media that rivals UF and A IF membrane
filters in terms of
retention and efficiency. They can be used to reduce
or remove a wide range of contaminants from
water including viruses and
bacterial, chlorine, iodine, iron, lead, tin, copper and
membrane,
biofouling contaminants. Applications include beverage manufacturing,
pharmaceutical
makeup water, point of use and point of entry filters.
Meanwhile, in transportation filtration, Ahlstrom is adding
capacity in Louveira, Brazil and
Tampere, Finland, which will be
complete in 2012 and late 2011, respectively.
"We have been pleased to grow with our key customers and as a
commitment to the filtration
business we are expanding the operation.
This is another important step in our global growth
roadmap where we
have strengthened our global platform in Europe, Asia and now in
South
America. We will continue to keep our focus on our markets in all four
geographies--enabling
Ahlstrom to be a global supplier in the filtration
market with a full offering of filter media,"says Gary
Blevins,
vice president, Transportation Filtration.
Other recent investments include the Binzhou, China plant and a
[euro]17.5 million investment to
expand capacity in Turin, Italy.
In addition to filtration, Ahlstrom's wipes business--which is
set to become a part of Suominen-received considerable investment
during the last five years with acquisitions in North America and
Europe
as well as investment in Brazil. In 2010, the business grew 9.7% and has
continued to be an
important contributor to overall growth, according to
marketing manager Alistair Brown.
Recent efforts within wipes have focused on modernizing and
streamlining its European wipes
business, closing plants in Carbonate
and upgrading operations in Mozzate and Cressa as well as
developing
innovative solutions to move the wipes business for ward. One key trend
within wipes is
movement toward a more sustainable
environment."Ahlstrom's diverse range of green wiping
fabrics
helps to support a more sustainable environment," Nyyssonen
says."No other manufacturer
offers so many easy and innovative ways
to produce environmentally friendly wipes for baby
homecare, personal
care and industrial applications. Our sustainable offerings
include
biodegradable, dispersible or reusable wiping fabrics integrated with
natural or recycled
materials."
A reported 82% of Ahlstrom's fibers come from renewable
resources. Efforts in this arena include a
recent Chirnside, Scotland,
investment that brings a sustainable choice to the growing
infusion
market using spunmelt technology. BioWeb is a lightweight nonwoven web,
which features
unique functional and environmental characteristics. This
unique product provides an
environmentally friendly, sustainable and
affordable solution for high end and specialty tea packers,
designed for
conversion on ultrasonic or heatseal tea-packing machines, according to
Beth
Schiviey, communications officer, Food and Medical.
This investment--and others like it--are part of a company-wide
effort toward more sustainable
products and practices, Nyyssonen
continues."For Ahlstrom, sustainability means a balance
between
economic, social and environmental responsibility,"she
says."Our code of business conduct
forms the basis of our corporate
responsibility. This means that Ahlstrom supports sustain ability
from
raw material sourcing to end use applications."
In addition to improving the environmental profile of its products,
Ahlstrom has been mindful of the
impact its processes have on the Earth.
The company's environmental impact is continually reduced
in
manufacturing with carbon footprint reductions a regular practice.
Additionally, the company
achieved zero waste landfills in two of its
plants and a significant reduction in waste across all of its
facilities
between 2009 and 2010.
Moving back to its business units, in medical, Ahlstrom recently
invested in Mundra, India. India
helps support the businesses strategy;
strengthening Ahlstrom's leading global position and
increasing
presence in Asia. The Mundra facility delivers a wide range of nonwovens
for application
in single use medical substrates used inside and outside
of the operating room. The plant uses the
start-of-the-art technology to
produce a wide range of SMS protective fabrics for the medical
market.
Also in Asia, Ahlstrom has established a joint venture in China for
crepe papers used in medical
papers and masking tape base papers.
Meanwhile, Ahlstrom's Building and Energy Business Area serves
customers mainly in the building
(flooring, roofing, wallcovering and
various other building applications), transportation, marine
and
windmill industries.
This segment's extensive product range includes
Ahlstrom's Easylife walkover materials, which play
a leading role,
offering textile like touch, a wide range of surface effects and
superior strippability.
According to executives, business demand is increasing rapidly in
wallcovering, driven by Chinese
growth and European recovery, and this
should receive an additional boost from the Chinese
investment. Demand
is also increasing for flooring products and there is improved demand in
the
wind and marine sector in Europe.
Moving forward, Ahlstrom will continue to monitor demand across all
of its businesses around the
Rumors swirl around Kimberly-Clark and its status as one of the
world's largest producers--and
users--of nonwoven fabrics.
Traditionally, the forward-integrated company has supplied much of
the
nonwovens to its absorbent hygiene business with products including
Huggies diapers, Pull-Ups
training pants, Kotex feminine hygiene items
and Depend adult incontinence products as well as a
number of medical,
personal protection and professional items. However, the company has
made no
secret that it is constantly looking at new technologies both
within and outside of its operations,
sourcing nonwovens both externally
and internally, depending on what is right for the product at
hand.
While K-C and its partners have remained mum on the subject, there
is much speculation that K-C's
movement away from nonwovens
production could be a driving force behind the rapid rate of
spunbond
and spunmelt investment around the world. If K-C decides to abandon, or
even curtail, its
internal nonwovens production, that would certainly
help its fellow nonwovens makers move the
hundreds of thousands of tons
of new capacity set to come onstream globally in the next couple
of
years.
All K-C executives will say on the subject is that the core of
K-C's growth strategy is strengthening
its brands and targeting
growth in areas where it sees a clear advantage, and this strategy
relies on
innovative nonwoven materials--from internal and external
sources--that provide a competitive
advantage. Developing and sourcing
these materials continues to be a top priority for the
company.
In 2010, total sales at the company reached $197.3 billion, a 3%
increase, on a combination of
higher selling prices and organic growth.
While the company won't break out its nonwovens sales,
industry
estimates put the figure around $1.3 billion, depending on the product
mixes and raw
material pricing. In addition to supplying its internal
business, K-C targets a number of markets
externally including
filtration, acoustics, sorbents and specialty applications.
Regardless of its plans for its nonwovens sourcing, the company
continues to invest substantially in
its business. In July, its leg down
under, Kimberly-Clark Australia said it would invest $65 million in
new
capacity and environmental improvements. Included in the investment is
$28 million to start
production of disposable pants at its Ingleburn,
Australia plant, $6.5 million to expand capabilities
and reduce carbon
emissions in Albury, Australia and $30 million for a combined heat and
power
generation project greatly increasing energy efficiencies and
significantly reducing greenhouse
emissions for the Millicent mill
located in South Australia, where the company makes Kleenex
tissue
products.
Making the announcement, managing director Glen Watts
says,"These investments demonstrate
Kimberly-Clark's
commitment to maintaining an effective Australian manufacturing
presence. We
continue to look to the Australian government to play its
part to maintain an effective economic
environment for Australian
manufacturing."
In keeping with the company's recognized sustainability
leadership, around half of the $65 million
investment addresses energy
costs and greenhouse gas emission reduction from its manufacturing.
The
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will be on the order of 90,000
tons per year by 2013
when the investments are completed. "This
reduction is equivalent to removing 32,000 small cars
from the road or
alternatively to planting 10,000 hectare of trees per year,"
explains Watts.
Last year, it was Russia on the company's radar when it opened
its first manufacturing site there.
The plant, located near Moscow, has
two lines dedicated to Huggies diaper production, which are
helping the
company expand on its already strong marketshare in the region.
"K-C has made significant investments to establish our brands
and build our organization in Russia
since 1996. K-C has increased sales
10 times in 10 years in the region. The decision to invest into
the
development of local manufacturing became an important part of our
strategy to support our
continued growth," says CEO Thomas Falk.
Meanwhile, domestically K-C has embarked on a $25 million expansion
in Conway, AR, where it
makes feminine hygiene and other paper products.
The investment reportedly allowed the company
to increase capacity of
several products formerly not made in the US as well as
modernizing
production of items traditionally made there.
Representing $8.6 billion worth of sales, K-C's personal care
business remains its largest business
and as such performance here is
critical to its success. To ensure this success, the company
is
constantly revamping its product line.
Sales are expected to trend higher in 2011 thanks to increased
volumes and higher pricing. This
summer, K-C began raising its prices
throughout North America to offset inflationary pressure from
higher raw
material and energy costs. Net selling prices in the US and Canada for
Huggies baby
wipes and diapers, Pull-Ups training pants and GoodNites
youth pants are increasing on average
between 3-7%.
Amidst these price increases, K-C continues to innovate its diaper
line. Its most recent offering is an
upgrade to its Little Movers diaper
line with the introduction of Slip-On diapers, the category's
first
and only disposable diaper in North America that slides on just like
underwear, offering moms
a simple and easy-to-use solution to defy
babies' kicks, twists and contortions. The new Huggies
brand diaper
includes an innovative design with stretchy sides to deliver quick
changing and a
close, comfy fit on the first try, while offering the
trusted leakage protection moms have come to
know and expect from the
Huggies Brand. The easy-open sides and finger tabs also allow for
simple
removal and disposal.
"No doubt it is a challenge for parents to change diapers when
babies are constantly twisting and
turning," says Bob Thibault,
president, North American baby & child care brands. "In
fact,
according to a recent consumer study conducted by the Huggies brand,
more than 60% of
moms say their baby is very active and struggles to get
away during a diaper change."
Another diaper innovation boosting sales for K-C has been the
seasonal availability of Huggies Little
Movers denim diapers, which were
launched on a limited edition basis the last two summers.
Huggies Little
Movers Jeans diapers feature a pigmented polypropylene coverstock
material
designed to resemble denim jeans. K-C executives described the
product as a replacement product
for apparel. Instead of clothing babies
in a plain white diaper, the jeans diaper can look more like a
piece of
clothing in the hot, summer months. In conjunction with this
summer's launch, K-C is
helping the Every Little Bottom program.
For every pack of Huggies Jeans diapers sold, K-C
contributed to this
program, which supplies diapers to moms and children in need.
In other marketing efforts, in May, the company's GoodNites
brand announced a measure to
educate moms of 4-6 year olds on the
benefits of switching from training pants to GoodNites brand
underwear
to meet their children's nighttime needs. With approximately one
million potty-trained
kids in this age group still wearing training
pants at night to help manage bedwetting, the focus of
the new GoodNites
brand marketing program aims to raise awareness among moms about
a
product specially designed for her growing child's needs."In
our ongoing partnership with mom,
we've gained new insight into the
needs of those with younger children. We learned many 4-6 year
olds are
wearing training pants instead of GoodNites Underwear to provide
protection against
And, according to executives, PGI's new owner, Blackstone
Capital, is the right partner for the
company's future
growth/'Blackstone has indicated that they value PGI's strong
position in the
marketplace and our growth strategy and has confidence
in our management team,"says Cliff
Bridges, senior director,
corporate communications and sustainabilitv/'Blackstone's
energy allows
PGI to better execute on growth opportunities."
Blackstone bought PGI in January in a move PGI called the
culmination of its strategic review
process to better provide the best
value alternative available to its stockholders. At the time of
the
acquisition, executives said Blackstone was committed to supporting
PGI's strategy of
continued growth and investment in proprietary
capabilities in its markets around the globe.
During the past decade PGI has proven its commitment to growth with
an ambitious global
investment strategy that has included Large-scale
greenfield investments and acquisitions alike. Its
two most recent
investments in Mexico and Virginia join other state-of-the-art
investments in
Argentina, Colombia, North Carolina, China and Spain.
Looking ahead, the company announced in
March it would add a
custom-designed spunmelt line as well as a pilot line in Suzhou, China
to
focus on the hygiene market.The new line is expected to be commercial
by the end of 2012.
Additionally the company has committed to a
multiline expansion in Southern China and is currently
surveying
possible locations for a greenfield installation in Brazil by early
2013.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Looking even further ahead, PGI expects to eventually add a third
spunmelt line at its plant in Cali,
Colombia, where it holds a
leadership position serving the Andean Pact market. This facility
was
temporarily shut when a flood hit the region in December 2010. According
to Bridges, 80% of
its customers continued to have a source of materials
while the plant was closed.
Other Latin American investments for PGI include a new line in San
Luis Potosi, Mexico, which
came onstream in May 2010 and played a role
in increasing PGI's overall sales last year.
Meanwhile, PGI continues to get its feet wet in the European market
which it entered in 2009
through the acquisition of Tesalca-Texnovo in
Spain, a six-line spunmelt operation mainly supplying
the hygiene
market. It operates as a wholly owned subsidiary PGI Spain, and has
helped PGI
expand its scope not only into Western Europe but also in
North Africa where Telsaca-Texnovo had
a strong customer base.
"The acquisition of the Spanish operation has gone very
well," Bridges says. "The Euro market has
stabilized. We have
grown from the number four hygiene material supplier to number three. We
do
not view ourselves as a'me too'player in this market and
will continue to pursue a value-add
business model. We are focusing on
global relationships in order to win in the marketplace."
Back in the US, PGI's latest investment, a state-of-the-art
Reifenhaucser line in Waynesboro, VA, is
scheduled to be complete in the
fourth quarter of this year. The $65 million investment
included
construction of the new line and an expansion of the existing facility-,
which already
houses one spunmelt line. PGI also has a one-line North
American operation in Mooresville, NC.
While investment has been ambitious in the past six or seven years,
PGI executives feel the pace of
adding new lines has been in line with
demand for the materials. "Since 2004, our focus on the right
cost
structure and with the right business construct has positioned us for
continued future growth,"
Bridges says, adding that he doesn't
think any streamlining or re structuring of PGI's assets will
be
imminent.
Instead, the company will focus its research and development
efforts on both product and process
innovation.These include developing
sub-micron fibers using a variety of melt-spinnable polymer
options that
will advance attributes in barrier and pore size."We also are
making continued
advancements in combining technologies such as Spinlace
and filament extrusions. PGI also is
focusing on advancement in
manufacturing with bio-polymers," Bridges says.
Spinlace is PGI's continuous filament wipes-producing
technology launched in April 2007 to the
hard surface cleaning market.
When releasing the new technology, PGI said it bridged the gap
between
value and performance in wipes by eliminating the carded manufacturing
steps.
"Wipes continues to be a core market for PGI and Spinlace has
gained increased traction in the
marketplace since we introduced this
new technology platform in 2007,"Bridges says."We continue
to
focus on technologies where we can deliver improved strength, softness
and barrier that
customers desire."
Other goals at PGI center around sustainability and several key
milestones were reached this year.
In April, EDANA granted PGI two
awards at the INDEX '11 show in Geneva, Switzerland. One of
these
awards was for PGI's TakeCover Insect Repellant blanket in the
finished product category.
This humanitarian aid blanket protects
against malaria by repelling mosquitoes and other insects.
The second
award was given in the Sustainable Process or Management category for
PGI's
Sustainability Process.
Additionally in May, PGI was ranked the number one most sustainable
company in North Carolina
and second in the Southeastern US by the
Southeastern Corporate Sustainability Rankings
organization. The ranking
is based on environmental, social and governance performances using
175
metrics.
"Sustainability is very much part of our culture and doing
business at PGI," Bridges says. "We are a
leader in
sustainability for both the nonwovens industry and among leading global
manufacturers.
Our efforts have been recognized in the marketplace with
several recent awards."
These efforts around sustainability wall be one of several tenets
that guide PGI as it continues with
its long-term growth strategy for
high-growth developing regions and ensuring investments in the
US,
Suzhou, Brazil and, ultimately, Southern China.
"To remain a leader and win, PGI will deliver the right
products with the right customers/'Bridges
concludes."We
believe that anyone with money can invest in additional capacities, but
this does not
make them a sustainable leader for the future market
environments."
6. Fiberweb
London, UK
www.fiberweb.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $850 million
Key Personnel
Daniel Dayan, CEO; Dan Abrams, CFO; Carsten Heldmann, president
consumer fabrics, John June,
president Americas industrial division;
John Warner, managing director Geosynthetics division;
strength of
spunmelt in the global hygiene market over the medium and longer terms,
despite the
massive amounts of capacity' set to enter the market in
the next couple of years.
"There is a lot of hygiene spunbond coming onstream,
particularly in North and South America and
Asia,"Dayan
says."I think the US is set to be pretty self sufficient in
polypropylene spunbond
nonwovens for the next couple of years as new
projects come onstream. This will mean a reduction
of exports out of
South America but this region itself continues to grow strongly so we
are
confident that--maybe with the exception of a year or so--demand
will continue to grow."
In addition to the FitesaFiberweb assets, Fiberweb operates modern
lines in Italy and Sweden
which primarily supply the Eu -ropean markets.
While the company has no disclosed plans to
expand its role in this
market, business there is benefiting from improved efficiencies in
the
recycling operations as well as an efficient carding line being built in
Northern Italy to improve
the competitiveness of hygiene products. While
investment in hygiene has been strong, it is actually
industrial
applications that Fiberweb deems more attractive due to higher margins
and higher
returns on capital.The downside, however, is it's harder
to grow rapidly unless you do so through
acquisition, Dayan says.
One industrial area where acquisition has been a focus has been
geosynthetics. In May 2011, the
company bought Tubex, a producer of tree
shelters designed to improve the survival and growth
rates of saplings
and vines. The company is considered complementary to Fiberweb's
Acorn tree
shelter business which is based in Norfolk,
UK."Acquiring a leading niche market position in a
business
closely-related to an existing Fiberweb business is highly attractive
and we will apply the
scale and geographic reach of Fiberweb to
accelerate Tubex's growth in international markets while
realizing
efficiencies in production and distribution, "Dayan explains.
Meanwhile, in December 2010, Fiberweb paid [pounds sterling]9.4
million to buy out Essex-based
geosynthetics and accessor manufacturer
Boddingtons International, the only UK producer of
geosynthetic nets as
well as a wide range of accessories and laminates for use in civil
engineering
projects and for temporary ground protection. Its business
is highly complementary to Fiberweb's
Wales-based Tcrram
geosynthetics business. There is a long-standing and growing
supply
relationship between the two businesses, accounting for around 10% of
Boddingtons' sales.
There are also links with Fiberweb's Old
Hickory, TN-based Typar construction fabrics business,
according to the
company.
Boddingtons is based in Maldon, Essex with small manufacturing
operations in Lod-don, Norfolk
and Melbourne, Australia and has sales
offices in the US and Germany with a total of 92
employees.
Boddington's sales for the year ended June 30 were [pounds
sterling]14 million with
profit before interest and tax of [pounds
sterling]1 million.
Boddingtons, Tubex and Fiberweb's existing geotextile business
will form a new business unit
within the industrial division, Fiberweb
Geosynthetics. In addition to the two acquisitions, Fiberweb
is
investing in a specialty needlepunch geotextile production line in the
UK. Other measures will
include the closure of Terrain's Pontypool
site as well as Boddingtons' Loddon. Operations from
these two
sites will be integrated intoTubex's Aberdare site, which will be
expanded to handle some
of the overflow.
"Geosynthetics comprises textiles, nonwovens, nettings,
composites, drainage laminates and tree
shelters," Dayan says.
"It's a whole range of specialist fabrics or products that go
into construction.
We are bullish about it. We have strong brands and we
have a strong market position."
Dayan speculates that the next investment step will be the addition
of some specialty products-probably tree shelters--in the US
Beyond geosynthetics, Fiberwerb has a number of new products in
filtration and technical
nonwovens. These businesses are set to benefit
from a new research and development center,
scheduled to open in Old
Hickory, TN by the end of the year, as well as a recent line upgrade
in
Berlin, Germany dedicated to industrial applications. "We have seen
strong volumes in Europe
for all sorts of applications--roofmg,
agrotextiles, filtration, etc.,"Dayan says.
Meanwhile, in Asia, Fiberweb continues to operate a two-line
airlaid facility inTianjin, China, which
is largely dependent on the
success of a major femcare customer."We keep a range of options
open.
I would certainly like to have a stronger footprint there--even a
plant--and we are seeking the right
opportunities," Dayan says.
In fact, it's the right opportunities that Fiberweb will
depend on for broad-based growth throughout
all of its
businesses."Rel-evant innovation with the ability to make the right
acquisitions and
investments at the right time to accelerate growth is
what will move us forward,"Dayan concludes.
7. Johns Manville
Denver, CO, USA
www.jm.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $670 million
Key Personnel
Bob Wamboldt, vice president and general manager, Engineered
Products North America (EPNA),
Enno Henze, vice president and general
manager Engineered Products Europe/Asia (EPEA); Ken
Forden, director of
sales and marketing EPNA; Stefan Mohr, commercial leader nonwovens
(EPEA);
Martin Kleinebrecht, marketing leader nonwovens (EPEA)
Plants
Waterville, OH; Defiance, Of 1; Richland, MS, Spartanburg, SC,
Etowah,TN; Bobingen, Berlin,
Wertheim, Karlstein and Steinach, Germany;
Shanghai and Louyang, China; Trnava, Slovakia
Brand Names
US-Brands: Dura-Glass, DuraBase, Delta-Aire, DynaWick, Dy-naWcb,
DynaTech, Micro-Aire,
MicroLith
EU Nonwoven brands: microlith, ForTex, Illuma,
StabilStrand,eco-Mat, DuraGlass, DuraSpun,
SpunFil, CombiFil, ComforTex,
Sta-bleGrip; UniTex, MicroAire
EU Fibers brands: ThermoFlow, DuraCore, KY-Tex
As it adapts to its new regional structure, roll goods producer and
roofing and construction
specialist Johns Manville has defended itself
against slowdowns in many of its core markets by
keeping costs under
control. The Denver, CO-based company, which is also a part of
Berkshire
Hathaway Group, is organized into four regional segments--Insulations
Systems, Roofing
Systems and Engineered Products North America (EPNA)
and Engineered Products Europe/Asia
(EPEA), a restructuring that allows
the company to increase its decisionmaking speed.
Among the markets JM is focusing on are laminate flooring, air
filtration, wall coverings and
landscaping in addition to its more
traditional areas including residential and commercial
construction and
geotextiles.
The company currently makes glass mat nonwovens in Waterville, OH
and Etowah, TN. In Ohio, a
line upgrade has increased capacity and
efficiency of the operation while in Tennessee the facility is
described
as extremely cost-efficient, running 24 hours per day/seven days a week.
Additionally, in July, JM broke ground on a new commercial roofing
single ply membrane
manufacturing facility in Milan, OH, where it will
make EPDM roofing products starting in the
second quarter of next year.
The facility will be the company's third in Ohio."This is the
right time
to invest in enhancing our product portfolio and JM now has
one of the broadest offerings of
commercial products in the
industry," says CEO Todd Raba.
JM has invested more than $125 million in its commercial roofing
business during the last five
years.
EPDM is a thermoset synthetic rubber single ply roofing membrane
known for its durability, ease of
installation and superior weathering
characteristics. Approximately 80% of the FPDM market is
located in the
Midwest and Northeast. JM strategically selected a location close to the
majority of
its customers to ensure the most efficient delivery.The new
facility, a former rubber manufacturing
facility, began renovations in
May 2011, with approximately 100 million square feet of
manufacturing
capacity and production scheduled for mid-2012.
Meanwhile, in Europe, JM makes glass fiber nonwovens in Karlstein,
Steinach and Wertheim,
Germany as well as polyester spunbond in Berlin
and Bobingen, Germany. A recent highlight for the
German operation is a
Top 100 seal by the Vienna University of Economics and
Business
Administration. For the second year in a row, JM was ranked among the
top 100 mostinnovative mid-sized companies in Germany.
JM also operates two plants in China--one in Shanghai and the other
in Louyang--where it continues
to service roofing specialty and
geotextiles markets in Asia and the Middle East from state-of-te-art
spunbond lines.
In terms of product development, JM is going after the laminate
flooring panel market with the use
of StabilStrand, an innovative glass
fiber nonwoven impregnated with a semi-cured resin system.
Especially in
the case of floor coverings, which are subjected to daily stress over
many years,
impact resistance and impact strength play an important
role. StabilStrand EW 160 C/A, used as
underlay reinforcements of
laminate flooring panels manufactured in DPL-process, increases
the
impact strength and the edge stability of HDF panels. StabilStrand
enables users to meet the
new performance requirements for the flooring
class 34.
Meanwhile, JM is entering an entirely different field of
application that can be entered with
CombiFil GS, which is a brand-new
polyester spunbond air filtration media with improved
filtration
efficiency and lower pressure drop leading to expanded filter lifetime
and lower energy
consumption.This helps customers to save costs and
protect the environment by using fewer
resources, according to
executives.
Another new product, EasyShine, a nonwoven glass fiber product, has
recently been incorporated
into JM's already strong portfolio of
innovative and decorative wall covering products for both
commercial and
residential markets. EasyShine is pre-coated to provide both a time and
costefficient alternative. Paint consumption is considerably lower
compared to other similar products.
The pre-coating also acts as a
stabilizing factor which enables faster and more accurate edge-t-edge
installation.
Within the landscape market, JM has introduced DuraSpun Type 014,
which has been specially
designed to meet the market demand as a
protective layer to stabilize sloped landscapes of all
kinds. The
Polyester Nonwoven DuraSpun Type 014 provides excellent chemical
stability and
outstanding technical values. "The surface treatment
applied to the fabric in combination with the
UV resistance enables JM
customers to offer an outstanding product for downstream
applications,"
explains Martin Kleinebrecht, marketing leader
nonwovens (EPEA).
8. Glatfelter
York, PA, USA
www.glatfelter.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $350 million
Key Personnel Dante Parrini, CEO; Jonathan Bourget, vice president
and general manager
Advanced Airlaid Materials; Lionel Bitton, general
sales manager Advanced Airlaid Materials
Plants
Canada, Germany, France, UK Processes
Airlaid, wetlaid
Airlaid sales continue to drive sales growth for York, PA-based
Glatfelter Group. The maker of
specialty paper and wetlaid nonwovens
purchased airlaid maker Concert Industries--and its plants
in Canada and
Germany--in February 2010 for a reported $235 million. This division now
operates
as Glatfelter Advanced Airlaid.
Already airlaid sales, which were estimated at approximately $200
million during the purchase, are
on the rise. During the second quarter
of 2011 ended June 30, sales increased 24.7% to nearly $65
million
thanks to a combination of higher selling prices, increased volumes and
improved currency
translations.
Also benefitting Glatfelter's airlaid business is a new,
state-of-the-art airlaid line in Falkenhagen,
Germany. Representing a
$70 million investment, Concert began ramping up the new line,
that
facility's third, in late 2009, and Glatfelter said the potential
this new line had on the business
was one of the contributing factors
that led to its decision to buy Concert.The line added 18,000
tons of
capacity to bring the global airlaid capacity, which also contains a
two-line operation in
Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, to 84,000 tons.
The core business for this output is feminine hygiene products but
other areas of interest include
adult incontinence, food pads, tabletop
items and wipes. Much of this output is already contracted
through 2013
and some 80% of current revenue is attached to raw material price
pass-throughs,
which allows the company to raise and lower prices
depending on its supplier base.
By adding the strength of Concert's airlaid business to
Glatfelter's existing knowledge in specialty
papers and other
technologies, the company is hoping to capitalize on synergies across
all of its
business units, which in addition to advanced airlaid include
composite fibers and specialty papers.
Concert's airlaid business is only the latest in a string of
investments by Glatfelter.The company has
spent the last decade working
to build its business by expanding into new areas largely
through
acquisitions rather than Greenfield investments, which present the
challenge of
introducing incremental capacity into the market. Through
acquisition, Glatfelter has not only
bought existing capacity but also
gained intellectual property and know-how.
In fact, the Concert acquisition was Glatfelter's first since
1998 and it is consistent with its strategy
to build on areas where it
is al ready a leader. Airlaid nonwovens is helping Glatfelter expand
more
into engineered fiber-based materials. Airlaid was a good adjacent
technology' to existing
businesses, particularly wetlaid nonwovens,
which Glatfelter makes in Europe.
Beyond the acquired business, Glatfelter operates a diverse
specialty papers business that includes,
among other things, a sizeable
wetlaid nonwovens business in Germany, France and the UK.
Core
applications for this business, which was valued between $100-150
million last year include
tabletop applications and surgical masks.
9. Companhia Providencia
Parana, Brazil www.providencia.com.br
2010 nonwovens sales: $326 million
Key Personnel
Herminio Freitas, president and CEO; Eduardo Feldmann, CFO;
Alexandre Domequc commercial
director; Romeo Bregant, engineering and
technology director; Fabio Kryzanovski, operational
director
Plants
Sao Jose dos Pinhais-Parana, Brazil, and Pouso Alegre-Minas Gerais,
Brazil, Statesville, NC, USA
Processes
Spunbonded, SMS, meltblovvn, laminated nonwovens, printed nonwovens
Brand Names
Kami, Protect, Protect Advanced, Protect Ultra, Kami Soft Major
Markets
Medical, agricultural, furniture and bedding, towel and coverlet,
hygiene, filtration, wipes
With new lines going in in the US and Brazil, Companhia Providencia
has reason to be optimistic
about future growth.The Sao Paolo,
Brazil-based company is already-reporting 10% growth in 2010
thanks to
growth throughout the Americas and this figure is set to go even higher
as new
www.sandlcr.de
2010 nonwovens sales: $288 million
Key Personnel
Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler, chief executive officer; Dieter
Magiera and Dipl.-Ingenieur (FH)
Wolfgang Hoflich, members of the
management board
Plant
Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany ISO Status
ISO 9001, ISO 14001 certified, Okotex Standard 100, OHRIS, FSC,
PEFC
Processes
Carded, waddings and drylaid nonwovens, thermally bonded,
mechanically bonded, meltblown,
thermofused, needlepunched, air through
bonded, spunlaced, hotmelt and thermal lamination,
coating and
flexoprinting, embossing, aperturing, composites
Brand Names
sawafill, sawabond, sawaloom, sawavlies, sawaloft, sawaflor,
sawa-tex, sawascreen, sawagrow,
sandier sports, sawacomp sawaflock,
sawaform, sawalux, sawaflex, sawasoft, sawasorb, sawatec,
sandier
fibercomfort, sandier fiberskin, sandier unico, sawadur, sawadry,
sawabond White Lace,
sawabond Silver Lace, sawatcx mariquita, sawatex
orsettino, bio textile by sandler
Major Markets
Home textiles, technical nonwovens (civil engineering, automotive,
filtration, horticulture),
nonwovens for hygiene, medical, wipes (baby
cosmetic, technical, oil)
A new spunlace line is the top story from Schwarzenbach/Saale,
Germany-based Sandler AG but
other highlights from the nonwovens
producer include a 21% sales increase, new efforts in
sustainability and
growth in technical applications.
"2010 was really a very good year for us and we had about 21%
increase from year on year 20092010,"says vice president of sales,
logistics and procurement Ulrich Hornfeck, stressing that these
sales
figures don't include the company's latest spunlace
investment, which is expected to drive
sales growth even further in the
years ahead.
Instead, this growth has been attributed to a spirit of cooperation
with key customers in a number
of different market
segments--automotives, filtration, hygiene, wipes--as well as the impact
of
higher raw material prices."It was really a broad increase and I
think that is a good thing,"Hornfeck
adds.
Spunlaced nonwovens, particularly for wipes applications--has been
a strong growth area for
Sandler since it first entered the market in
2003. Last year, the company said it would continue to
invest in the
technology with a third line to facilitate growth not only in wipes but
in more technical
applications. It is part of a --40 million investment
which also encompasses a new building to house
11. Avgol
Tel Aviv, Israel
www.avgol.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $ 277.5 million
Key Personnel
Shuki Goldwasser, chairman; Achai Bonneh, vice chairman & CTO;
Shlomo Liran, CEO
Plants Tel Aviv Israel; Mocksville, NC, USA; Jingmen City, Hubei
Province, China; Uzlovaya, Russia
ISO Status
ISO 9002 Certified
Processes
Spunbonded, meltblown, hydroentangled spunlaid
Brand Name
Zebra, Avspun, Avsoft
Major Markets
Hygiene, medical, and construction
Continuing its ambitious global expansion plan is Tel Aviv,
Israel-based Avgol Nonwovens. As it
waits for its fourth North American
line to come onstream early next year, the company announced
last month
it would add a third line in China and increase its share in its joint
venture partnership
there.
With five lines in Israel, two existing in China, three up and
running in North America and one in
Russia, all based on Reicofil
technology, Avgol is one of the world's largest suppliers to the
global
hygiene market where it attributes its success to its ability to
make an extremely uniform,
lightweight product.
"We really continue to be focused on hygiene," says North
American sales manager Dennis
Durkin/'That's where we see our
growth is. Looking out over the next five years, that's where
we
are going."Durkin was formerly a part of Cleaver Associates, once a
distributor of Avgol that the
company purchased earlier this year for $7
million, in a streamlining measure.
For Avgol, growth is expected to be global. In Asia, Avgol
currently operates a two (soon to be
three) line venture with a local
partner, Hubei Gold Dragon. Its latest investment, a Reicofil line,
will
bring Avgol's production capacity in China to 40,000 tons. It is
part of an effort, announced last
year, to expand production capacity
through the purchase of two new production lines in the US
and China for
an investment of $80 million. The new lines--the other is being built in
Mocksville,
NC--will raise Avgol's production capacity by 30%, or
30,000 tons of finished product a year, so that
overall company
production of finished products will reach 140,000 tons a year.This
expansion will
allow the company to meet increased demand of company
products.
The cost of the additional Chinese production line will be financed
mainly by investment in equity
from the Chinese partnership, bank
financing, and/or with a shareholders' loan. The
investment
required to set up the new Chinese production line includes an
investment' of between
$10.2 million and $12.4 million by Avgol in
the Chinese partnership equity, as well as a $1.1 million
investment by
the Chinese partner in the partnership equity. The Chinese partnership
will raise the
remaining $27-30 million of the investment through local
bank financing and/or a shareholders'
loan. Following its
investments and its increase in its partnership equity, Avgol's
stake in the
partnership will rise to 83-84% of partnership equity and
the Chinese partner's will hold 16-17%.
"We identified great opportunities in the China/Asia Pacific
markets, which are considered markets
with high growth rates in the
categories of disposable hygiene products and specifically
baby
diapers," says Shlomo Liran, Avgol's CEO."The investment
in a third production line in China
underscores our complete
satisfaction with the investments we have made to date in China
within
the scope of the partnership, and prepares the groundwork for driving
the sales momentum
in response to the already high demands in China.
This strategic decision is the outcome of the
continuing increase in the
volume of purchases and the expression of trust in Avgol and in
its
production lines by our major customers in China, as well as throughout
the world. Increasing
our production capacity will enable us to give
expression to our competitive advantages - global
presence, innovation,
uncompromising quality and superb service to our customers, and to
fortify
Avgol's positioning as a leading and preferred supplier for
the long years ahead."
Beyond the already announced North American and Chinese
investments, Durkin says Avgol
continues to look at other places in the
world to help it improve its global footprint. Possible
locations for
Avgol's next new line include southeast Asia or a second line in
Russia."1 would think
Russia would have to be under heavy
consideration for another line," he says."Ultimately, you
have
to have two lines in a plant. You have to run two lines to make
money."
Also driving Avgol's future investments will be the continued
demand for lower and lower basis
weights, an area that has already
received much buzz in recent years, as well as increased
flexibility.
Five years ago, 13-15 gsm substrates were the gold standard, today 11
gsm is more the
average and weights as low as 8 gsm are already being
made by Avgol whose capabilities also
include bicomponent technology,
hydrotentanglement and different calendering patterns.
Durkin says as the industry moves closer to the lower possible
grammages, attention will be paid to
machine flexibility as the next way
to trim costs.
"What I see is there is going to be a need for more
flexibility7 because the resins have already
showed how crazy things
are. Polypropylene may not be the material of choice in hygiene
because
people won't be able to afford to be held captive to it 10 vears
from now,"he says.
12. Hollingsworth & Vose company
East Walpole, MA
Web: www.hollingsworth-vose.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $275 million
Key Personnel
Val Hollingsworth, president and CEO; David von Loesecke, vice
president international; Mike
Clark, division president, high efficiency
and specialty filtration; Mitch Bregman, division president
energy and
industrial specialties; John Madej, division president, engine and
industrial filtration;
Jochem Hofstetter, vice president and general
manager, Europe, Middle East, Africa; Josh Ayer, vice
president and
general manager, Asia-Pacific; Jeff Sherer, vice president and CFO;
Mario Sandoval,
vice president and chief integrated supply chain
officer; John Fitzgerald, vice president and chief
technology officer;
Ken Fausnacht, vice president, human resources
Plants
Apizaco, Mexico; Corvallis, OR, USA; East Walpole, MA, USA; Easton,
NY, USA; Floyd,VA, USA;
Greenwich, NY, USA; Hatzfeld, Germany;
Hawkinsville, GA; Kentmere, UK; Suzhou, China; West
Groton, MA, USA;
Winchcombe, UK
ISO Status
Apizaco, Mexico, ISO-9001.2008; Corvallis, OR, ISO 9001:2008; East
Walpole, MA, ISO 9001:2008;
Easton, NY, ISO 9001:2008; Floyd, VA, ISO
9001-.2008; Greenwich, NY, ISO 9001:2008; Hatzfeld,
Germany ISO
9001:2008; Hawkinsville, GA, ISO 9001:2008 and AS 9100; Kentmere, UK,
ISO
9001:2008; Suzhou, China ISO 9001:2008; West Groton, MA,
lSO9001:2008; Winchcombe, UK, ISO
9001:2008.
Processes:
Wetlaid, meltblown, carded thermal bonded (point and flat
calendered), latex bonded, thru-air
bonded, needlepunched, thermal
lamination, aqueous and solvent-based saturation, nanofiberwebs,
composites, webs incorporating functional particles
Brand Names:
AFM, AFN, AQF, AlphaPerm, AlphaSeal, AquaSure, BGO, Ca-paceon,
Capofilter, Cyclcguard,
DynaSeal, EnergyGuard, Energy-Guard Plus,
Fastock, HiPerm, Holltek, HiPerrn Plus, H2oudini,
HovoFuse, Hovoglas,
Hovoliner, Hovolon, Hovomat, Hovopulse, Hovosorb, Hovotex,
Hovotherm,
Hovotrim, Hovowipe, lnviscint, Magnaseal, NanoWave, Nanoweb, PerForm,
PurePerm,
Saf'iY' Shielded, Soft'N, Stable,
Stitchbackers, Technostat, Technosfal Plus, The Cat,
lufguard,
Unisorb,ValPac,ViaMat, WallTek
Major Markets
address market needs for fuel
efficiency, energy efficiency and emissions requirements. This
new
product, Inviscint, is a hydraulic and fuel filter media that responds
to regulatory and
performance requirements in fuel and hydraulic
segments. H&V plans to have a full-scale
commercial launch of this
product this fall.
Meanwhile, H&V's High Efficiency and Specialty Filtration
business continues to enjoy a full
recovery as new products contributed
to positive performance.
Mike Clark, division president high efficiency and specialty
filtration, points to Nanoweb as a
product that has been particularly
well received by the market. Its applicability to both air and
liquid
filtration segments has led to strong interest and adoption on the air
side globally as well as
good progress in liquid applications.
Another interesting new product is Technostat Plus, a higher
performance, lower pressure drop
version of the original Technostat. It
is being widely adopted in face masks, medical filtration and
HVAC due
to its high alpha (ratio of efficiency to pressure drop).Technostat Plus
has the lowest
pressure drop in the market, according to the company.
H&V's Capaceon media was launched in the fourth quarter of
2010. This product line breaks the
link between basis weight and
performance offering increased dust holding capacity for air fil
tration
media at equal basis weights as well as excellent efficiency, water
resistance and mold
resistance. Additional products within the Capaceon
line will be offered in late 2011 for lube
applications.
In addition to new product development, H&V has made
significant capital investment in facilities
worldwide. In Europe,
H&V recently added a new meltblown line in I Iatzfeld, Germany and
is
rebuilding a line in Winchcomb, UK. The new Hatzfeld line has allowed
H&V to add capabilities
such as multilayer composites to its
portfolio, positioning it well for growth in synthetics.
H&V's
rebuild of a line in Winchcombe will be complete by the end of the third
quarter of 2011.
This investment will result in step change performance
improvements in the microglass media
produced at the site, and will more
than double H&V's European microglass filtration and
microglass
battery separator manufacturing capability. H&V currently
manufactures microglass
media in the US, Europe and Asia. These capital
investments help H&V's production stay in sync
with its efforts
in developing technically advanced media for battery, air filtration,
hydraulic and
coalescer applica tions.
In fact, it is the company's Energy and Industrial Specialties
area that has seen many new areas of
product and market expansion such
as laminates for home furnishings and specialty and
microglass
materials. Among these new products is H&V's patented
Cycleguard battery separator
material, which is used in automobile
batteries. According to Mitch Bregman, division president
energy and
industrial specialties, it will be products like these, both within and
outside of filtration,
that are critical to H&V's global
expansion plans and will help H&V position itself for growth.
"The
new products have underscored our reputation of being a high
quality supplier of innovative new
products,"he
says."H&V's key initiatives include global growth,
innovation and standardization of
global business processes to provide
superior customer service."
13. Japan Vilene
Tokyo, Japan
www.vilene.co.jp
stable."
Buckeye's main markets continue to be wipes and hygiene
applications, in April, the company
decided to expand its scope in wipes
by launching a flushable wipe substrate. Launched at INDHX,
AIRspun
Flushable is a new airlaid nonwoven substrate for use in moist toilet
tissue applications, a
market Buckeye views as a strong growth prospect.
According to the company, it adds a new
dimension to its range of
products for wiping applications.
"AIRspun Flushable was designed to meet the performance
criteria of our customers including the
flushability guidelines set
forth by the nonwovens industries associations in North America
and
Europe,"Crowe says."Additionally, the product is made
predominantly with our own fluff pulp
cellulose from renewable
materials, so it fits well with our continued sustainability
efforts."
15. TWE Group
Dierdorf, Germany
www.twe.de
2010 nonwovens Sales: $260 million
Key Personnel
Michael Haddon Plants
Emsdettern, Germany, Dierdorf, Germany; Hangzhou, China
Processes
Drylaid, chemical bonded, thermal bonded, needlepunched, air
through bonded
Applications
Hygiene, household, automotives, geotextiles, building, filtration
Describing 2010 as"not an easy year,"was Michael 1
laddon, managing director of the TWE Group,
Dierdorf, Germany.
Attributing a turnover reduction largely to a substantial drop in sales
to the
automotives market and related areas, the company also saw
reductions in many of its other
markets, which include hygiene,
household, geotextiles, building and filtration.
He added that the company started seeing conditions improve in 2010
and is confident for the
future, due to new business and contracts
secured over the last couple of years which are now
coming onstream.
To help secure itself for the future, TWE continued with its sub
stantial investment plans and built
two more new proprietary lines in
its German sites of Dierdorf and Emsdetten to expand capacity in
its
existing technology. Additionally, TWE has finalized plans to add
another new line, featuring
what Haddon would only call existing TWE
technology, which will come onstream in the first
quarter of next year.
Beyond Germany, the TWE Group opened a Chinese facility in Hangzhou
in 2007 and added a
second line there in 2008. Two years later, Haddon
describes its Chinese operation--which like
Germany serves automotive,
hygiene and technical applications--as in a consolidation phase.
16. First Quality Nonwovens
Great Neck, NY, USA
www.firstquality.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $250 million
Plants
Hazleton, PA, USA; McElhattan, PA, USA, Wuxi, China (planned)
Processes
Spunmelt, spunlace
Applications
Hygiene, medical
Recent news for forward integrated nonwovens supplier First Quality
is a Chinese investment
plan.The company is moving forward with an
ambitious Chinese expansion plan--a two-line facility
in Wuxi, China,
its first operation outside the US According to executives at the
tight-lipped
nonwovens producer, which also makes diapers, femininine
hygiene items and other consumer
goods for the private label market, the
company's investment in China is a clear demonstration of
its
commitment to the global nonwovens industry and its dedication to
satisfying the needs of the
domestic Chinese market by providing
innovative and high quality products, executives said.
The first line is scheduled to be operational next year. It will be
a multi-beam Reifenhauser machine
incorporating the latest technology
and enabling First Quality to provide premium non-woven
material to the
hygiene and medical markets throughout Asia. Details on the second line
will be
announced in 2011.
Meanwhile, in the US, the Great Neck, NY-based company is said to
make about 100,000 tons of
spunmelt nonwovens at two plants in
Pennsylvania and is rumored to have recently added two
spunlace lines to
its operation to fuel growth in the private label wipes segment. Much of
this
output supplies First Quality's massive private label
business, which includes the former
Covidien/Tyco diaper business
purchased by the company in 2008 as well as its own interests in
the
private label feminine hygiene and adult incontinence market.
As First Quality continues to vie for a top spot in the disposable
diaper market, it is unclear how
much of its new Chinese investment will
feed an expansion of its consumer products into Asia.
In other news, First Quality began making spunlaced nonwovens last
year on a 3.6-meter wide
Rieter hydroentanglement line, which will
reportedly feed its private label baby wipes business. The
company is
said to already be adding a second line to this operation. First Quality
had previously
concentrated its nonwovens business only on spunmelt
technology. The company's eighth spunmelt
line was added in late
2008.
Beyond nonwovens, in August 2010, the company's baby care arm,
First Quality Baby Products, LLC
said it would modernize its absorbent
hygiene manufacturing facilities in Macon, GA, which was
acquired with
the Covidien deal.
17. Fibertex
Aalborg, Denmark
www.fibertex.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $235 million
Key Personnel
Mikael Staal Axelsen, CEO, Fibertex personal care; Jorgen Bech
Madsen, CEO, Fibertex Industrial
Nonwovens; Ole Houmann, CFO; Kenneth
Mynster Dolmer, purchasing director
Plants
Two in Aalborg; one in Malaysia, two in the Czech Republic, one in
Germany, one in South Africa
Processes
Drylaid, carded, needlcpunched, thermal bonded,
spun-bond/meltblown, technical air-lay
Brand Names
Fibertex, Fibertex Nonwovens, Flexback, Formtex, Compoflex,
Multigeo, Weedseal, Fibergreen,
Fibertex Patio, Fibertex Universal
Fiberacoustic, TWO-in-ONE, Comfortback, Weedseal Wood-back,
Q-Match,
Making the perfect match, FibertexCOMFORT, FibertexFlite,
FibertexDual,
FibertexPRINT
Major Markets
Industrial textiles--primary and secondary carpet backings,
auto-motives, acoustics, furniture and
bedding filtration,
nanotechnol-ogy; technical textiles--building and construction,
composites, do-i-yourself, horticulture; hygiene--applications within
baby diapers, femcare and adult incontinence
This is the last time Fibertex will appear on the annual top
company report in this form. In January
the company's par ent
Schouw & Co. split the company into two separate companies-Fibertex
Personal Care, encompassing the spunmelt business, and Fibertex
Nonwovens, which
includes the company's industrial operations.
Mikael Staal Axelsen, CEO of Fibertex Personal Care, gives two
reasons for the split-communication and focus--which have not impacted
the day to day operations of the company.
"We were already operating very independently as you can say
as two separate divisions,"he says."lt
was getting difficult
for them to communicate what the two companies were doing."
In 2010, Fibertex's total business achieved sales of DKK 1.650
million thanks to sales increases in
the personal care business.
Fibertex Nonwovens, meanwhile, where markets are much more
nonwovens in Japan.
In addition to its Japanese operation, Mitsui operates a wholly
owned Thailand operation (MHM)
where it makes 30,000 tons of SMMS
nonwovens on two lines. According to industry reports, Mitsui
considered
expanding its Thailand operation or even establishing a Chinese
operation but decided
that Japanese expansion made the most sense for
its operation. It is hoped that this investment,
aided by the free trade
agreement established between China and ASKAN countries in January
2010,
would decrease exports from Thailand to Japan and increase exports from
Thailand to
China.
In new product news, Mitsui Chemicals has developed a new nonwoven
material with a 0.5-1 micron
diameter made on a reconfigured meltblown
line and sold under the brand name Syntex
nonwovens.
Additionally, the company's hollow fiber polypropylene
spunbond nonwovens are being used for oil
absorption mats for oil spills
in seas and rivers.The fiber diameter of the nonwoven is 43 microns
and
the hollow rate is about 20%.
Check out the top 40 Dynamic History online at
nonwovens-industry.com/top_40
20. Pegas Nonwovens
Znojmo, Czech Republic
www.pegas.cz
2010 nonwovens sales: $196 million
Key Personnel
Frantisek Rezac, chief executive officer; Frantisek
Klaska/Technical director; Marian Rasik, chief
financial officer;
RostislavVrbacky, production director
Plants
Znojmo, Bucovice, Czech Republic
ISO Status
ISO-9001: 2000, ISO-14001: 2004, ISO-9004: 2004
Nonwovens Processes
Spunbond, meltblown, SMS, BiCo
Major Markets
Hygiene, agriculture, healthcare, ecology, furniture, building,
protective apparel, industrial
Its first foreign investment is the big news at Czech Republic
based Pegas Nonwovens. After
keeping its first nine lines in its native
country, the company announced in June it would likely build
Flooring, automotive, filtration, construction, civil engineering,
building and various industrial
applications
Colback sales jumped an impressive 20% last year at Dutch nonwovens
maker Colbond. While the
company does not report its nonwovens results,
industry sources put sales at the supplier of
geotextile and flooring
solutions around $190 million.
Contributing to the increase was the macroeconomic recover)'
of most of Colbond's core target
markets as well as flooring trends
benefitting Colback's tufted carpet tile materials and
Colbond's
success in automotives and filtration applications.
To continue this growth, Colback has committed to a new Colback
yarn line in its Emmen, the
Netherlands plant while in the US
preparations for additional nonwovens production capacity are
underway
with an investment project scheduled to be complete early next year. A
second US
expansion has already been approved for the end of 2012.
"On both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, we have been selling out
our nonwoven production capacity
which has led to new capacity
investments at all our manufacturing locations in 2011 and more
planned
for 2012,"says CEO Jan van Boldrik."Growth could be realized
in China and in North
America--our carpet tile business has been strong.
Carpet tiles were enjoying an increasing
popularity among architects,
designers and end users. Meanwhile the bad weather in Europe has
given a
boost for dust control mat sales resulting in a substantial increase in
demand for our
primary backings."
Like the rest of the nonwovens industry, Colbond's recovery
has not been without its problems. Key
among them are sharp increases in
raw material prices. Since the end of 2009, prices of key
ingredients
such as polyester, poIyamide-6 and polypropylene have increased as much
as 60%.
While some of these increases have been mitigated by increased
manufacturing and organizational
efficiency improvements, the company
has had to levy a number of pricing increases in late 2010
and into
2011.
A market which has been exceeding expectations is the waterproof
bituminous roofing membrane
market.
"To maximize supply volumes, major initiatives were launched
to stretch machine output and
optimize our Colfors product
portfolio," van Boldric says/Throughout the year, close
communication
with our customers has been vital in safeguarding the
reliable delivery of Colfors and of our Colback
premium roofing membrane
reinforcements."
Meanwhile, in the automotives market, sales of primary and
secondary backings to the automotive
industry significantly exceeded the
last two years as Colbond stabilized its leadership position in
Europe
and achieved growth in China where demand for premium German car brands
has been
strong. In North America, light vehicle production has seen
double-digit growth in 2010, a trend
that is continuing into 2011.
Helping Colbond in the automotives market is its ability to make
highly stable, low weight
nonwovens. "Pre-stretching of Colback
before molding in tufted car carpeting is a common practice
to reduce
both the weight of tufted carpet and the consumption of nonwovens,"
van Boldrik
explains."A lot of focus of our research and
development resources have been and will continue to
be on reducing the
mass of Colback further while retaining its molding and tuft hold
performance
on the same high level. Progress in this field not only is
an answer to the industry's drive for
recently and more in the pipeline, we will
retain and grow our market share in our key markets and
move into new
ones already on our radar,"van Boldrik concludes.
22. Toray advanced materials Korea.
Seoul, Korea
www.toraysachan.com/www.torayamk.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $180 million
Plants
Gumi, Kyungsang-Bukdo, South Korea; Nantong, Jiangsu, Province,
China; Indonesia
Key Personnel
Y.K. Lee, president and CEO; W.S. Chun, vice president/head of
fiber division; Y.K. Kim, Vice
president/head of fiber division;
Ya-suhikoTanabe, senior director/fiber division
W.S. Chun, Senior vice president/spunbond division; J.N. Kim,
president of TPN; W.C. Hwang,
director of TPN
Processes
Spunbond PP (SS, SSS, SMS, SSMMS, bicomponent), PET (embossed and
needlcpunched)
Brand names
Livsen
Major Markets
Hygiene, medical, protective markets, industrial specialties,
agricultural, upholstery, filtration,
PP/PE bicomponents, construction,
geotextiles
Expansion plans in China and Indonesia made headlines this year for
Toray Advanced Materials
(TAK), Korea's largest nonwovens maker.
The company, once known as Toray Sae-han, reported
sales of $180 million
for 2010, a figure that is set to go higher as ambitious Asian expansion
plans
bear fruit during the next couple of years.
Included in these plans are a second and third line in Nantong,
China--one that began ramping up in
March 2011 and the other set to
start in July 2012, as well as a 20,000-ton line planned for
Tangerang,
Indonesia, which will start operations in June 2013. These investments
are being driven
by demand for disposable baby diapers, which is
expected to grow at a rapid pace in the ASEAN
countries on the back of
high economic growth and changes to lifestyle brought about by
rising
national incomes. Particularly in Indonesia, the market for disposable
baby diapers is
estimated to grow at double digit growth from 2010 to
2015, according toTAK's survey. This has
prompted major hygiene
product manufacturers to build new production facilities and
expand
existing facilities, according to the company.
Toray Group established its Chinese operation in 2006 with an
18,000 ton line and added a second
line in 20II with another 20,000 tons
to the operation.The third line was announced in early
2011
."Compared to the US and European market, the Asian market is still
underdeveloped and has
much potential due to more population and recent
rapid economic growth,"says the company. "In
this kind of
demand background, we think we have more in formation for Asia than US
and Europe
competitors.Therefore we try to get the initiative in this
market and still have favorable reply and
feedback from the big
customers in Asia."
In addition to its Chinese operations,TAK makes 43,000 tons of
spunbond polypropylene nonwovens
in Korea.These nonwovens are sold to a
number of countries in the Asian market including Japan,
Korea and
China. Additionally, hygiene investment in Korea is not likely in the
near term because of
that market's maturity and a low growth rate
for polypropylene spunbond nonwovens. However, due
to increased demand
for polyester-based industrial products, TAK makes 4400 tons of a
polyester
spunbond in Korea and expects a second line to start there
next year, executives add.These new
lines are targeting geotextile,
construction, filtration and other industrial markets.
Moving back to hygiene, TAK's recent investment announcements
show how confident the company
is of the company's growth in
Asia."After the Chinese market, ASEAN has the most potential
market
before India,"executives say."Among the ASEAN countries,
Indonesia has the biggest
population and the strongest economic growth.
Toray has had other subsidiaries in Indonesia which
helped in our
decision to invest there."
The new Indonesia line is set to come onstream in 2013.The new site
will operate as PT. Polytech
Jakarta (TPJ) and will be headquartered in
Tangerang.The new line will have an annual ca pacity of
about 20,000
tons.
According to the company, investment in Asia is tricky because of
the key differences between the
main regions in terms of economic
development levels, developing businesses, incomes and
consumer
behaviors."Considering this market situation, we establish sales
strategies for each
customer with a different product, service and
supply area."
That said, India, one of the key markets for growth in Asia, has
not been targeted by TAK, but this
country is reportedlv under in
vestigation and could likely be the location of the company's
next
major investment.
For now, however, TAK has its hands full, with one new line up and
ainningand two more in the
constmction phase.This new capacity will be a
lot to introduce to the market, but TAK feels the
market is ready for
it.
23. Toyobo
Osaka, Japan
www.toyobo.co.jp
2010 nonwovens sales: $174 million
Key Personnel
Yukio Kawasaki, general manger spunbond division of Toyobo, Akio
Oda, president of Kureha
Plants
Tsuruga, Iwakuni, Shiga Processes
Spunbond, needlepunch, resin bonded, spunlaced. thermal bonded,
stitch bonded
Brand names
Volans, Ecule, Bonden, Kurelock, Kurehalock, Dynac
Major markets
Geotextiles, roofing sheets, carpet backings, automotive interiors,
automotive filters, needlepunch
carpets, hotmelt bonding sheets, plaster
bases
Annual production of PET spunbond nonwovens in Toyobo is 12,000
tons per year, Its Kureha
subsidiary makes resin bonded, needlepunch,
thermal bonded and spunbonded with the capacity of
about 7000 tons per
year. Meanwhile, theYuho subsidiary produces nonwovens with
needlepunch,
spunlaced and stitchbonded.
Toyobo makes spunbonded nonwovens by bio-PET bicomponent liber
under the brand name Bio
Volans. Kev ingredients are derived from sugar
cane and other plants. Because the characteristics
of these materials so
closely resemble oil-based polymers, they can be processed in the
same
manner.
The development of these bio-based nonwovens follows Toy obo's
efforts in the films market where
it has been making greener options
since 2010.The company hopes to be making 500 tons of its
green
nonwovens by 2015.
In other news, Kureha is is focusing on new applications outside of
the automotives industry in
japan and overseas. In Thailand, Kureha has
a joint venture with Shinih for the manufacture of air
filters for
mobile engines, which are sold in China. Due to increased demand in this
market, the two
companies are expecting demand to reach 1.2 billion
meters per year and is examining the
possibility of establishing
manufacturing operations in China to ease demand on its Thailand site.
24. Propex holdings
Chattanooga, GA, USA
www.propexinc.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $165 million
Key Personnel
Michael Gorey, president and CEO, Martin deVries, executive vice
president and chief financial
officer
Plants
Ringgold, GA Process Needlepunch
Major Markets
Geosynthetics, flooring, furniture and bedding, automotive,
agriculture, laminates, vinyl substrates,
sorbents
Needlepunch maker Propex Holdings made a number of personnel
changes this year. Leading them
was the appointment of Michael Gorey, as
president and CEO in April. Gorey is a proven leader with
experience as
a chief executive, most recently serving as the president of
Bridgestone, North
American Consumer Tire Business. With more than 25
years experience in the automotive and
building products industries,
Gorey has the know-how to drive innovations and strategies that
produce
growth, profit and market leadership, even in volatile markets. A global
leader in
technology and innovation, Propex is owned by a private
investment fund managed by Wayzata
Investment Partners LLC, a
Minneapolis-based private equity firm. "I am excited about
the
opportunity to work with Wayzata and the Propex leadership team,"he
says/'Propex brands
represent some of the most innovative solutions
in the geotextile, building products, concrete and
flooring markets. I
look forward to working with the team to increase our growth and
leadership
position for the company worldwide."
Propex was purchased by Wayzata in 2009 after a restructuring
process. Since then, the company
has continued its strategy' of
aggressively pursuing business opportunities in existing markets,
the
company has launched a steady stream of new products and innovations.
In other personnel news, Propex named Craig Martin vice president
and business unit lead for its
Geotextile Systems. He brings to Propex
more than 29 years of sales, marketing and management
experience. His
experience includes expertise in sales management, marketing, branding,
channel
strategies, as well as product and business development. He has
held management positions with
Scott Paper, Kimberly-Clark and most
recently with Intertape Polymers Group.
Propex's offerings to the geosynthetics market include highly
innovative erosion control systems.
The Geotextile Systems business has
set the benchmark for performance in transportation,
environmental, site
development, stormwater and erosion control applications.
"I look forward to working with the team in the Geotextile
Systems business,"says Martin."With
such a strong foundation
of innovation, Propex has developed the broadest portfolio of
products
that the world uses and needs every day."
In July, Propex's Geotextile Laboratory at its Ringgold
manufacturing facility achieved the American
Association for
Laboratory-Accreditation (A2LA) lab accreditation for Quality Control
MechanicalTesting. A2LAaccreditation demonstrates technical competence
for a defined scope and
operation of a laboratory quality management
system.
According to Steve Thaxton, engineering sendees manager, A2LA
accreditation assures customers
that common performance and hydraulic
properties of nonwoven geotextile products are tested in
compliance with
current ASTM, ISO, Australian or Canadian standard test methodologies
and that
the quality control test equipment is properly calibrated and
maintained.
Thaxton underscores the importance of accreditation by pointing out
that destructive product test
results are not universal or bias-free and
designs can fail if reported test results do not accurately
reflect
actual performance. "Since geotextile labs generate critical data
used in civil and
environmental engineering designs, testing standards
and accreditation are absolutely necessary to
Poul Mikkelsen, chairman; Stephen Landon, president and COO; Finn
Schoning, group controller;
Ginny Casstevens, vice president, sales
development--Americas; Jean Francois De Gruttola, key
account
director--USA; Richard Knowlson--global product development director;
Alexis Porcher-global commercial manager; Chip Holton, vice
president--operations--USA; Gilles Hourlier,
vice
president--operations--France
Plants
Asheville, NC, USA and Soultz, France
Processes
Hydroentangling
Brand Names
Lidro, Rough N Soft, TAU
Major Markets
Personal care, home care, hygiene, packaging, specialty &
technical industrial applications
An increase in sales value and volumes helped Jacob Holm's
sales increase slightly between 20W
and 2010 as all three of the
company's production lines--two in Europe and one in the
US-continued to run at maximum capacity 24 hours a day seven days a
week.
By region, sales were split nearly evenly between its US and
European operations, but the company
does not disclose where these
products land. Executives would, however site Latin America as
an
important growth market in the premium wipes market.
Meanwhile, the US--where Jacob Holm operates a large spunlace line
near Asheville, NC--remains
strong with all results in line with
strategic plans."We remain well positioned in the premium
wipe
segment with a proven capability to engineer products to changing market
needs (alternate
fibers, sustainable options at competitive prices,
value added enhancements),"explains president
and COO Stephen
Landon.
At the same time, Europe saw continued investment in line upgrades
to support both critical new
product development and productivity
improvements.This in turn delivered improved profitability.
In Europe
the product development focus has been split between specialty wipes and
general
hygiene with feminine care and diaper components prominent.
While wipes, particularly premium varieties, are certainly
important to Jacob Holm, the company
continues to investigate
alternative uses for its spunlace materials. In fact, a recent
internal
analvsis identified that Jacob Holm has 25-30% of its combined
product/sales volumes
outside of wipes. Success in non-wipe markets can
be attributed to Jacob Holm's ability to make
extremely lightweight
spunlace materials, now down as low as 15 gsm.This has opened up
new
markets in absorbent hygiene products such as baby and adult diapers and
feminine hygiene
items. "This is one of the key focus areas that
Jacob Holm expects to expand further over the next
two
years/'Landon explains.
Other areas of interest include a number of key industrial
applications where again the ability to
produce lightweight webs is
valued, he adds. "While the number of applications remains small,
the
potential volume in each of these applications could be very
significant."
These efforts have so far been met with considerable success. One
recent winner is a premium 35
gsm product with physical property
characteristics that mirror those of standard 45 50 gsm
products
currently sold in the marketplace.This has allowed Jacob Holm customers
to drive down
costs without compromising their product. Additionally,
the company has optimized its ability to
manufacture lightweight
substrates and has developed a new portfolio of lightweight
products
ranging from 15gsm - 25gsm which are ideal for hygiene and various
composite
applications.
Meanwhile, in wipes, which are still very much a focus for the
company, Jacob Holm has
successfully commercialized alternate fibers in
premium wipes. These alternative feedstocks include
100% cellulosic,
regenerated cotton fiber, recycled polvester fiber, extruded soy fiber
and PLA
fiber. Additionally, Jacob Holm is working with development
partners to develop additional sources
of alternative cellulosics.
"Jacob Holm has, with its partner customers, been at the
tore-front of developing greener, more
sustainable products for the
wipes market for over two years," Landon says."Much of the
company's
activity has focused on the overall development of the
supply chain for these new or alternate
sustainable raw materials. In
some cases Jacob Holm has had to be involved in establishing the
whole
background supply chain to ensure it is both viable and auditable."
In addition to new product development efforts, growth will come
from future investment. While the
company has not yet an nounced firm
plans for additional North American investment, executives
have made no
secret of the need for additional capacity.
"Jacob Holm America had a successful 2010, during which
detailed plans were considered for a
further investment in a second high
capacity'spunlace line - these plans will continue to be
evaluated
as economic conditions/raw material pricing trends / customer next
generation programs
evolve--Jacob Holm definitely wants to grow in North
America," Landon says."Jacob Holm is
considering three
different variations, but we will not say more on this as final solution
will be
influenced by targeted market and customer requirements."
Meanwhile, Jacob Holm's two-line European operation conducts
more than 30% of its sales outside
of wipes and expects to sec this
percentage exceed 40% by next year on the heels of growth in
hygiene and
industrial applications."Jacob Holm sees a brighter future in
Europe for "differentiated
wipes" where we can engineer value
for customers and leverage our capabilities with obvious
targets to be
less exposed to commodity and Standard wipe markets."
As the product portfolio expands, Jacob Holm France plans for
specified investments of [euro]4-5
million over the next three years, to
build new generation capabilities for spunlace, Landon
explains.
These investments, when they occur, will surely be inline with
Jacob Holm's newly adopted strategy
of focusing on a wide range of
fiber inputs and a narrow range of products."For the last twoplus
years, a different strategy has been adopted with success, namely, a
much wider range of fiber
inputs is being utilized to produce a narrower
range of targeted products that best meet the latest
demands of specific
end markets. To this end Jacob Holm is focused on the following critical
end
use markets,"Landon concludes.
differentiated and value-add products with
an important focus on automotive and insulation,"Vesey
says.
In the insulation segment, in late 2010Vita launched EnGuard
insulation, an environmentally
friendly material providing long lasting
superior thermal and acoustic insulating properties, and in
2011 it
formed a distribution agreement with Pacific Insulation to sell the
product in the Western
US and Canada.
EnGuard's low impact manufacturing process implements recycled
plastic, PET bottle flake,
providing a sustainable alternative to
traditional insulations. Unlike other comparable materials, the
process
eliminates the need to add harmful chemicals resulting in a product that
is free of
formaldehydes, Borates, VOCs and glass fiber irritants. The
product is reportedly made at all three
ofVita's US sites.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Vita Group continues to operate sites in
France, Belgium and Sweden
through its Libeltex subsidiary, which serves
novelty healthcare applications and focuses on
innovative product
development in hygiene, filtration, automotive, furniture and building
and
construction.The group closed its UK sites a few years ago to focus
on North America and Europe.
In addition to this closure,Vita has focused on a lean management
program, waste reduction efforts
and improved supply chain efficiency to
contain the impact of raw material prices. These efforts led
to a number
of changes made to the senior commercial and research and development
personnel to
support market share growth ambition, according to Vesey.
"We expect raw material prices not to come back to
pre-recession levels due to the growing demand
from emerging
markets," she says."As such Vita will constantly search for
adding value to its
products and services through customer focused
innovation, supply chain optimization and lean
manufacturing."
27. Georgia-Pacific
Atlanta, GA, USA
www.gp.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $152 million
Plants
Green Bay, Wl, USA (two facilities); Glen, France; Avigliano, Italy
Processes
Airlaid, carded
Brand Names
Airtex, Dritex
Major Markets
Baby wipes, industrial and food service wipes, feminine hygiene,
absorbent cores, tabletop, medical,
moist toilet tissue, meat packaging
While best known for its paper and tissue businesses in both the
retail and away-from-home sectors,
Atlanta, GA-based Georgia-Pacific is
one of the world's most successful users of airlaid technology.
Its
output targets both its own end product business as well as external
businesses in the baby
wipes, industrial and food service wipes,
feminine hygiene, absorbent core, tabletop, medical, moist
toilet tissue
and meat packaging segments.
Meanwhile, G-P's nonwovens business, which centers on airlaid
technology, has continued to
perform well by focusing on improving its
production and reducing costs despite challenging raw
material prices.
Benefiting G-P were existing contracts, put in place before raw
material prices escalated, which
kept their impact to G-P under check.
Additionally, G-P has been successful in unearthing new
market segments
for its airlaid technology that had been using other materials. These
markets
were typically using technology that was more expensive than
airlaid but G-P was able to show how
pulp can perform just as well at a
lower cost, according to executives.
G-P has also been hard at work improving its environmental profile,
an effort it was rewarded for
this year through its Environmental
Excellence Awards.
"Across Georgia-Pacific, employees are using innovative
approaches to help reduce our
environmental impact and become a more
sustainable business,"says Jim I lannan, chief executive
officer
and president."By continuously improving environmental performance
in our operations, we
are creating more value for the company and the
communities where we operate. Our
Environmental Excellence Awards help
us recognize projects and programs that are leading the
way."
Among the successful efforts were reduction in emissions, improved
wastewater treatment systems
and improved energy efficiency.
28. Andrew industries
Manchester, UK
www.andrewindustries.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $140 million
Key Personnel
John Lewis, president, Southern Felt; Mike Konesky, vice president,
Southern Felt
Plants
South Carolina, China, UK, India Processes
Needlepunch, thermal bonded, chemical finishes
Brand Names
With most of its nonwovens output clearly centered on needlepunch,
Andrew's next step will be
exploration and investment in
complementary technologies including spunbond, meltblown
and
hvdroentangling. Other goals include distribution of products made in
Asia into Europe and
North America and increased focus on research and
development. "Our investment in research and
development will he
increased to broaden our product range especiallv where our existing
products
are under threat to alternative products which we do not
manufacture at this time but are likely to
become the products for the
future," Lewis concluded.
29. Union industries
Masserano, Italy 2010 nonwovens sales: $135 million
Key Personnel
Matteo Moltrasio, vice president; Luigi Cassano, managing director;
AlessandroTaramasso,
commercial director
Plant
Masserano, Biella, Italy
Processes
Spunbond, spunmelt, carded thermal bonded, apertured
Brand names Spundouce
Major Markets
Hygiene, wipes, medical, agriculture, industrial
Sales increased 25% to [euro]106 million ($143 million) for
Masserano, Italy-based Union Industries
due mainly to the partial
allocation of a new production line, which came on-stream as planned
in
the third quarter of 2010 and started making nonwovens for hygiene
applications during the
fourth quarter.
The new line, a brand new, state-of-the-art Rcicofil spunmelt line
added 24,000 tons per year to
Union's operation, bringing its total
output to 84,000 tons per year.
As it increases the size of its operation, Union has also been
focused on widening its scope/'During
the year, our product port
folio has been further widened. Besides the standard weights and
the
range of three-dimensional apertured materials by now already
consolidated, our trend is more
and more focused on specialties and
ultralight weights," says vice president Matteo Moltrasio.
In addition to expansion, Union Industries has focused on improving
the environmental footprint of
its operation. In fact, one major goal
achieved by the company from January 2011 is sourcing 100%
of the energy
consumed from renewable sources, Moltrasio adds.
29. Textilgruppe Hof
International Top 40
increase,"says Detlev
Kappel, managing director of Techtex and Global sales director for
technical
nonwovens."All of our plants are very busy at the moment
and have been over the last four or five
quarters."
Recycling is the world's responsibility, but at USFibers, it
is our way of life. USFibers produces
regenerated polyester staple fiber
for a wide variety of applications. Whether it is commodity or
specialty
fiber, we have the capabilities to produce a wide range of products that
ensures effective
and cost saving processability for our customers.
USFibers recycles all forms of PET and then
converts it into a high
quality, regenerated staple fiber. We are more than just a
manufacturing
company; we are a company that makes a difference every day. Our goal is
to make
the world a little more green in our pursuit of Excellence
through Innovation. USFibers is an
excellent domestic polyester staple
fiber option for the automotive, filtration, construction,nonwoven,
home furnishings, and geo-textile industries. Our years of experience
with various polymers
have earned us our outstanding reputation. We have
a proud history of consistently providing high
qualify recycled staple
fiber to our customers.
Hof supplies Europe through three plants in Germany and North
America through its site in
Lincolnton, NC.The group has a fairly large
marketshare with German automobile makers tjat
export vehicles around
the world.These automakers favor Hof's location near to Central
and
Eastern Europe, where demand is great.
Growth in automotives and other industrial markets has led Hof to
increase its capacity by moving
and improving existing equipment, which
will benefit the business beginning next year. Additionally,
Hof is
adding to its stitchhonding capacity in Mittweida, Germany to improve
its position in the
decorative head-liner business and other segments,
also in 2012.
Also benefitting Hof's business in the automotives realm is
MultiKnit, a foam replacement material
for car seats, which is being
used by BMW and a couple of other automakers."We see more
potential
for this and we have also developed a new grade for leather seats
because the original
product was designed for woven seat
cloths,"Kappel says.
Meanwhile, Hof's spunlace plant in Reichenbach, Germany is
running at full capacity. Described as
completely different from what is
traditionally considered spunlace, output from this line features
great
sound absorption, making it ideal for the automotives industry. In
addition to automotives
applications, Hof has been targeting roofing
applications with this new generation, tailor made
spunlace nonwovens,
Kappel adds.
Hof's US arm, Hof Textiles Inc. (HTI), based in Lincolnton,
NC, continues to be a leading supplier to
the North American automotive
markets where it supplies automotive thermal and acoustic parts
that
provide effective noise reduction for a wide frequency range, superior
appearance and
excellent process capability when used in a wide array of
different molding processes and when
combined with various other
materials."Innovation and growth are supported by
numerous
investments in new technology and capacity to constantly increase the
value of Hof
nonwovens for our customers and the North American
automotives industry supporting our
ambitious goals for further
growth,"says Lothar Hackler, president HTI. "New innovative
products,
continued investment in new production capacity and capability
with our excellent customer service
and technical expertise supported a
significant and ongoing growth in sales and market share in
2010"
The other side of Hof's business, apparel, is finally
stabilizing after decreasing for years due to the
market's
migration to China. "Business has stabilized after years of
declining. Moreover, we were
able to generate growth in sales,"says
Harald Stini, managing director."One reason for this was that
some
customers were coming back from Asia to Europe as they need
much'quicker response' to
serve the market better. So
interlinings is still a strategic market segment for Hof's
nonwovens
business and we are committed to it for the future."
Also propping it for future growth is a joint venture agreement
with Supreme Nonwovens in India.
All market segments--filtration,
automotive and interlinings--showed upward trends throughout
most of the
year. Fortunately, the business was only slightlv impacted by global
financial troubles, a
situation that mirrors the overall economv in
India."Again we have seen double digit growth last
year mainly for
industrial products related to automobiles and filtration,"Stini
says."Also for
interlinings, we were able to gain significant
market share as we have domestic production now."
Looking ahead, Hot expects to continue to grow as new investments
come onstream and it expands
its role on both sides of its
business."Our business is still going toward industrial
applications but
interlinings is still there," Kappel says."We
are still dedicated to that market and we will look for
new strategies
to grow there."
31. Precision Custom Coatings
Totowa, XJ, USA
www.pcc-usa.com
2010 nonwovens sales: SI25 million
Key Personnel
Peter Longo, chairman and COO, ScottTesser, president and CEO; Rich
Noble, CKO and treasurer;
Dan Kamat, vice president, Industrial Textile
division; Shaile Dusaj, director industrial marketing
and sales; Keith
Martin, industrial business manager; Cerry Welkley, national sales
manager; Dave
Reaman, director filtration services
Processes
Needlepunch, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, high lofts, heat
activated adhesive coatings,
specialty finishes and composites
Major Markets
Apparel interlinings, automotive fabrics, medical, fabric softener
substrates, furniture and bedding,
filtration, vinyl substrates, home
furnishings, wipes, hygiene, footwear, roofing and
construction,
filtration
Filtration sales continue to benefit Precision Custom Coatings. The
company added a new line to
help supply this business earlier this year
and is already in talks to add capacity again. The only
problem is
deciding where to put it as years of constant investment have left the
nonwovens
manufacturer space-poor at its Totowa, NJ headquarters.
In 2010, PCC reported sales increased from $115 million to $125
million thanks to continued
growth in its technical area and a leveling
off of its apparel-related business. Of particular note is
the
company's filtration business. Although it is a relatively new
business for PCC--the company
only entered it two years ago--it is
already making a substantial impact, comprising about 18% of
total
sales.
"We are really concentrating on expanding beyond the commodity
dry filtration areas into higher
rated MERV products,"explains
Scott Tesser, president and COO."We've already established a
good
customer base in lower MERV ratings and have expanded into higher
areas. What we are focusing
on is more technical, less commoditized.This
is where the growth will come."
In just two years, PCC has sold out two lines and is quickly
filling up a third in this market."lt has
been difficult to learn
the market but we have adapted quickly," Tesser says.
PCC currently has three lines dedicated to filtration. Two of these
are older apparel-related lines,
modified to meet the needs of
filtration; the third is a brand new line which came onstream
in
January. This third line is allowing the company to expand its focus
beyond HVAC into other
filtration markets.
In addition to filtration, mattress and bedding continues to grow
for the company thanks to its
strong growth in the Northeast. The
company is getting into composites instead of just offering
highloft
tops. New products include filler cloths and panels. Another market,
automotive, has
certainly had its challenges during the past year but
luckily for PCC, it has avoided many of the
commodity markets and
instead, most of its products are premium level. "There are
tremendous
price pressures everywhere you look in that market but we
have been able to put through some
prices increases. We have found that
customers are more understanding than ever before."
PCC's traditional market apparel still comprises about 50% of
its business with nearly all, about
90%, of it is conducted in Asia
where PCC operates three manufacturing facilities in China.
As
production costs have escalated in China, PCC has begun to look
elsewhere in Asia to
manufacture their apparel interlining needs.
Following in the success of its entry into the filtration market,
PCC has begun to penetrate the same
market in China. According to the
company there is tremendous potential in this developing market
within
China and Asia.
In fact, it is filtration growth in general that is at the top of
PCC's radar moving forward/The last
year has been all about
building this new business and there are still tremendous
growth
opportunities in filtration/'Tesser adds."It's not
anywhere near a mature business for us."
31. Unitika
Osaka, Japan
www.unitika.co.jp
2010 nonwovens sales: $125 million
Key Personnel
HiroshiYoshihara, general manager, nonwoven fabrics; Tetsuya
Yoshimura, general manager,
spunbond fabric sales
Plants
Okazaki, Tarui
Processes
Spunbond, spunlaced
Brand names
Marix, Eleves, Appeal, Wiwi, Alcima, Terramac, Cottoace
Major markets
Agriculture materials, carpet backings, geotextiles, cable wraps,
wipes, storing bags, coverstock
roofing sheets
The nonwovens production capacity of Unitika includes 22,000 tons
of polyester-based spunbond
nonwovens and 5000 tons of spunlaced
nonwovens. Additionally, Thai Tusco, Unitika's Thai
subsidiary
makes 4000 tons of spunbonded nonwovens.
In the past year, Unitika has benefitted from restored demand for
its polyester based spunbond
nonwovens, particularly in Thailand. In
fact, according to reports, demand is so strong that the
company is
looking into expanding its operation in Thailand to help it improve its
position in the
carpet backings, roofing and geotextile markets.
Meanwhile, Unitika's spunlace business is part of a joint
venture established with Marusan Industry.
This partnership began making
cotton spunlaced nonwovens on one 5000-ton-per-year line in April
2011.
Marusan, which has a 65% share, uses the nonwovens in powder puffs and
feminine hygiene
products while Unitika sells them to end users.
33. Lydall
Manchester, CT, USA
www.lydall.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $123 million
Key Personnel
W. Leslie Duffy, Lydall chairman of the board; Dale Barnhart,
Lydall president and CEO; Erika
Turner, Lydall vice president, CFO and
Treasurer; Mona Estey, Lydall vice president--human
resources; Paul
Igoe, Lydall vice president, general counsel and cor porate secretary;
Ian Grieves,
performance materials senior vice president filtration
engineering materials; Michael Barnes,
Performance Materials senior vice
president Operations; Peter Kurto, Performance Materials senior
vice
president life sciences
Plants
Rochester, NH, USA; Saint Rivalain, France; Green Island, NY, USA;
Heerlen, the Netherlands
Major Markets
Specialty insulation, high-efficiency air and liquid filtration
media Major Brand Names Apply Mat,
Arioso, Biotherm, CRS Wrap,
Cryo-Lite, LydAir MG, LydAir MB, LydAir SC, LyPore Defender,
LyPore MB,
LyPore SC, LyPore XL, Lythcrm, ManniGlas, Solupor Membrane
Nonwovens sales in Lydall Performance Materials increased sharply
from $98 million in 2009 to
$123 million in 2010 thanks to its ability
to react to a sudden uptick in demand once the economy
recovered.
"We saw a recovery in all of our served markets in 2010;
however, all industries remained relatively
cautious compared to
pre-recessionary times,"CEO Dale Barnhart says."Markets
showing particular
strength included power generation, commercial
applications and industrial applications.
Cryogenics, meanwhile, was
relatively weak early in 2010 but showed strong signs of improvemcnt
in
the second half of the year."
Opportunities for Lydall are mainly driven by markets engaged in
product and technology
development that are demanding higher levels of
filtration performance. Additionally, opportunities
exist for geographic
expansion in filtration and insulation in regions including Eastern
Europe,
South America, India and China. These regions continue to invest
in infrastructure improvements
and demand more from their filtration and
insulation applications.
In new product news, Lydall's Arioso high performance air
filtration composite media was chosen as
the premium filter media in a
range of high efficiency fume extraction filters being produced by
a
prominent filter manufacturer in the UK. Fume extraction filters are
used to remove fine
particulate matter, which is contained in smoke and
fumes generated by laser/plasma cutting and
welding operations.The
filters engineered with Arioso are designed to remove even the
finest
particles to provide cleaner air discharge in the workplace and the
environment.
"Lydall Performance Materials is continuously investing in new
product development. Currently,
several wide-ranging and exciting new
technologies are in the pipeline, all specifically targeted at
unique
applications and requirements in the marketplace. Lydall will continue
to launch new
products based on evolving technologies to meet the
changing market requirements," Barnhart
says.
Recent investments like a new needled line and an upgrade to a
wetlaid line in Green Island, NY, as
well as a capacity increase in
France, have helped Lydall expand its offerings to its customers
in
terms of size and scope."Both new products and increased capacity
have allowed us to react
quickly to the sudden change in market
requirements after the economic crisis and allow us to
support our
customers on a global basis going forward,"Barnhart adds.
34. The Jofo Group
Guanzhou, Guang Dong China
www.jofo.com
2010 nonwovens sales: $118 million
Plants
Guanzhou, Weifang, Shandong, China
Processes
Spunbond, meltblown, SMS
Markets
Hygiene, medical, industrial
China's The Jofo Croup announced in January it would invest
more than $60 million in a new 3.2
meter wide, multi-beam Reicofil-4
spunmelt line and a separate finishing line in its Weifang plant
in
Shandong, China. The line will be delivered in April 2012 and is
scheduled to start up in the
fourth quarter of 2012. Currently, there is
an existing 4.2 meter Reicofil-IV multi-beam line at the
Weifang plant,
which will be able to make more than 30,000 tons of material after the
second line is
complete. Jofo will target the rapidly growing disposable
hygiene and medical application areas in
Asia with the new capacity.
Perhaps the largest nonwovens producer in China, Jofo's
current nonwovens capacitv is more than
55,000 tons, and the company has
production facilities in Guangdong, Shandong and some other
areas in
China. The second Weifang line and other ongoing projects will bring the
company's total
capacity above 100,000 tons by the end of 2012.
Jofo plans to continue investing in adding new capacity as well as
research and development in the
nonwoven areas to forge core competence
in supplying premium nonwovens to disposable hygiene,
medical,
geotextile, industrial and other application areas, according to
executives.
The Jofo Group was established in 2000 with the goal of becoming
one of the world's largest
nonwovens producers.The company
currentlv owns 10 subsidiary' companies in Guangdong,
Shandong,
Hubei, Sichuan and Hong Kong and has annual sales of about RMB800
million ($118
million).
Based in China, Jofo sells its nonwovens all over the world.
Processes include composite, meltblown,
SMS and spunbond for hygiene,
industrial and geotextile applications.
Through a joint venture agreement with Weifang Investment
Corporation, established in 2007, Jofo
spent a reported $50 million on a
4.2-meter Reicofil 4 SS line capable of making 16,000 tons of
nonwovens
per year.
According to the companies, Jofo Weifang plans to ultimately
operate at least eight advanced
spunmelt lines with a total production
capacity of more than 150,000 tons, making it one of the
largest
nonwovens producers in Asia for the hygiene, medical and protective
apparel markets.
Additionally, the venture plans to set up a research
and development center for hygiene and medical
applications in Weifang
with financial support from the Chinese government.
Since 2000, the company has last operated Shandong Jofo Nonwoven
Co., a maker of spunbond,
meltblown and SMS composite nonwovens located
in the New & High Technology Industrial
Development Zone in
Dongying, Shandong Province.
In 2001, the company introduced the STP third-generation improved
twin-engined production line
from Italy and the matching Kusters hot
rolling mill from Germany. Its annual production capacitv
for spunbonded
polypropylene silk nonwoven fabrics is 7000 tons; in 2004 Shandong
Jofo
introduced Reifenhouser meltblown nonwoven fabric production line with
an annual output of
3000 tons of IT or PET. Meanwhile, it introduced
Kusters hot rolling mill compound facilities and
adopted the unique
one-step-and-a-half processing techniques so as to provide world-class
SMS
compound nonwoven fabrics to its clients.
In addition to the hygiene market, where Jofo offers lightweight,
soft spunmelt nonwovens, other
core markets include medical and
industrial protective apparel, automotives, furniture and
bedding
materials, filtraation media, agricultural and horticultural and
geotextiles.
Jofo was established in 2000 with the goal of becoming one of the
world's largest nonwovens
producers.
35. Kuraray
Tokyo, Japan
2010 nonwovens sales: $117 million
Key personnel
Takashi Nakajima, president, Kuraray Kuraflex
Plants
Okayama, Saijo, Ibaragi
Processes
Resin bonded, thermal bonded, spunlaced,m meltblown, steam jet
Brand names
Kuraflex, Microflex, Flextar
Major Markets
Coverstock, wipes, medical, household materials
Kuraray is comprised of three companies--Kuraray Kuraflex, Kuraray
Saijo and Kuraflex. Kuraflex
has products thermal bonded, spunlaced and
resin bonded nonwovens with an. annual capacity of
10,400 tons per year
as well as 1000 tons of steam jet nonwovens (under the brand name
Flextar).
Kuraray Saijo has made meltblown nonwovens with a capacity of
1800 tons per year and Kuraflex
Ibaragi has made spunlaced nonwovens
with a capacity of 3500 tons per year.
Applications for the steam jet nonwovens made by Kuraray include
medical dressing or construction
materials. These have advanced steadily
but the company has not yet made plans to expand
production in this
area. In meltblown, the company operates only at about 50% capacity
but
Kuraray is examining the face mask or filtration market as possible new
interest areas. In
spunlace, the main market is home care wipes and wet
windshield wiper material. While this
market, particularly in restaurant
settings, has suffered, Kuraray is hoping to further penetrate the
food
processing setting, where nonwovens are not commonly used in Japan.
Kuraray is also working on a technique to develop nonwovens using
meltblown technology for a new
generation of meltblown nonwovens.
While export levels have increased at Kuraray it is still low, less
than 10%, showing that the
company has faced challenges increasing its
overseas market. However, the company remains
interested in penetrating
China and Southeast Asia. In China, the company is Lipping its exports
of
windshield wipers and medical dressings, which are starting to
represent a significant amount of
sales. Other areas of interest in
China include the rapidly growing food service area.
36. Spuntech
Upper Tiberias, Israel www.spuntech.com 2010 nonwovens sales: $112
million
Key Personnel
Rob Stollar, vice president, global sales and marketing; Ron
Broshi, vice president, new product
development; John Rank, director
sales and marketing
Plants
Tiberias, Israel; Shamir, Israel; Roxboro, NC, USA Processes
Hydroentangled spunlace Major Markets
Wipes, hygiene, medical, industrial, filtration
Sales received a nice boost in 2010 for Israeli spunlace producer
Spuntech Industries. The
company, which was profiled two years ago for
the first time in Nonwovens Industry's top
companies report,
reported sales increased about 8% from $104 million to $112 million on
growth
in specialty engineered and value-added spunlace fabrics as well
as growth in the company's global
capacity.
This growth is a continuation of a trend achieved yearly since the
company opened its US plant in
2006. In addition to a one-line plant in
Roxboro, NC, Spuntech operates three lines--two in Galilee
and one in
Shamir--in Israel. It was founded in 1996 and is traded on the Tel Aviv
Stock Exchange.
"Spuntech operates three state-of-the-art production
facilities with a total of four production lines
using sophisticated
equipment with proprietary capabilities,"says John Rank, director
of sales and
marketing."The company's highly skilled engineers
and technological staff, supported by a
professional team of marketing,
logistics, quality control and management personnel, have the
ability to
mass produce a variety of unique added-value products in accordance with
stringent
quality control guidelines, while meticulously adhering to
delivery dates."
Currently, Spuntech's sales are split between North America,
South America, Europe and Asia
where it serves wet and dry wipes,
medical, technical, filtration and engineered fabrics
markets.
Describing spunlace nonwovens as the fabric of choice for most of its
customers, Rank
reports that demand remained strong for high quality
spunlace nonwovens throughout 2010.
37. Foss Manufacturing
Hampton, NH, USA www.fossmfg.com 2010 nonwovens sales: $90 million
Key Personnel
A.J. Nassar, CEO, Mike DeGrace, president
Plants
Hampton, NH
Processes
Needlepunch
Brand Names
Eco-fi, Fosscloth, Fosshield, FossFibre, Ozite, TopGuard, Kunin
Felt, Kreative Kanvas
Major Markets
Specialty syntehtic fiber (solution dyed PET, bicomponent fibers,
antimicrobial fibers, fire retardant
fibers, acrylic fibers);
automotives (headliners, package trays, floor carpets, interior trim
fabrics);
Ozicte decorative (wall coverings, marine, RV, speaker
coverings); retail (Kunin craft felt, autoaftermarket, indoor/outdoor
carpeting, construction, technical (vinyl substrate, filtration,
footwear,
healthcare and car wash)
Sales were up about 15% last year at Foss Manufacturing on improved
volumes mainly to the
automotives business which grew by 40% for the
year, according to vice president of sales David
Rowell. This growth has
continued into 2011. On the strength of new programs in automotives,
the
New Hampshire needlepunch manufacturer expects growth in this segment to
be in the 15-20%
range this year.
While much of this growth can be attributed to rebounds in the
automotives segment where builds
have increased from 10.4 million builds
in 2008 to an anticipated 12.4 million builds this year, Foss
has also
been extremely aggressive in this business during the past several
years.
"Automotives is one of the areas where you need a three- or
four- year plan because you are
developing colors and fabrics in
advance,"Rowell says."Right now we are working on 2013 colors
so
what: we are doing today won't impact our sales until the end of
next year. You have to have a long
term vision to really grow."
Most of Foss's automotive products exist in the interior of
the cars--carpeting, headliners and
trunkliners--but wheel well acoustic
material is fast becoming a core area for the company.
Within nonwovens, the other key area for Foss is in the supply of
indoor/outdoor carpeting material
for home centers and big box stores
like Home Depot, Lowes and Costo. New contracts with a
number of major
retailers are expected to boost sales in this segment as high as 10%
this year as
efforts in needling patterns and more structured carpets
have added appeal to the products.
"Another reason we are picking
up new business is we've done a great job servicing
these
retailers," Rowell says."A contract with just one major
retailer can mean big things because
they have so many locations."
Growth in these two core nonwovens markets led to the addition of a
new needlepunch line that
begaun operation in June. Representing the
second new line in three years, this new line is more
efficient and
produces higher quality fabrics with less waste than previous
generations.
The company's latest needlepunch line has been running for
about three months and Rowell says
another new line will likely be added
in the next three years."The latest line is similar to first
line
only larger,"he says."It's more efficient, the quality is
better and there is less waste."
As it ramps up the new line and begin the beginning planning stages
for another one, Foss will
focus on increasing its use of recycled
polyester bottles, which Foss processes into nonwovens and
markets under
the Ecofi brand name. This leg of the business has become so important
to Foss,
establishing an in-house operation could be an option in the
near future.
Already 60% of its total needlepunch output is made from recycled
bottles but sourcing has been
chaIlenging."The material can be hard
to come by," Rowell says. "We just don't have good
recycling
operations in this country but if we started recycling them
here, it could be a better situation for
us."
37. KNH Enterprises
Taipei, Taiwan www.knh.com.tw 2010 nonwovens sales: $90 million
Key Personnel
J.C.Tai, chairman and owner; Kirk Hwang, board member; George Wang,
general manager China
operations; Alvin Hu, wastewater business unit
officer; Y.S. Chiu, technical vice president
Plants
Taipei, Taiwan, Shanghai, China
Processes
Air through bonding, thermal bonding, meltblown, airlaid,
needlepunch, spunlace
Brand Names
Carnation brand for hygiene; Co-Fifbe for industrial specialty
products
Major Markets
Hygiene, industrial, agriculture, geotextiles
Continued movement into the spunlace market as well as expansion in
China have added up to a
sales increase in 2010, a trend that has
continued into this year, according to former president Kirk
Hwang.
The company is set to start up its third spunlace line later this
month, which will help ease supply
on its first two lines, which are
running at maximum capacity and add new patterning options and
other
benefits for the wipes market/The ability to add a pattern can make the
spunlace actually look
like a fabric, which is good for beauty
applications and even in feminine hygiene pads,"
Hwang
says."This will help us increase our sales because the pricing is
better in these areas."
KNH is also adding pulp capabilities to its spunlace operation,
which will help it become less
dependent on volatility in the rayon
market.
The medical market is also on KNH's radar with its spunlace
operation. Because of this market's
strong growth prospects in
Asia, where a lot of the garment converting takes place, Hwang sees
this
as a winning situation. Other areas of interest in medical nonwovens
include wound care and
blood filtration as well as as an operating room
pad to absorb fluids underneath a patient.
In late 2009, KNH added another factory.' in the western part
of China. Originally just a converting
operation, the facility will
house an air-through bonding line, an airlaid line and a spunlace line
by
the end of the year. Nonwovens made at this site will target the
Chinese hygiene markets while
Taiwan will continue to service the rest
of Asia and beyond, Hwang adds.
Additionally, KNH is examining other parts of China as well as
other parts of Asia, like India and
Southeast Asia where increased
demand for disposable diapers and wipes is driving
nonwovens
demand."All of this investment in China and Asia is supporting the
diaper
market/'Hwang says."They are necessary for growth and I
don't think there will be an overcapacity
situation in the
short-term."
KNH holds the advantage of being a truly global player with its
plants in Taiwan and China." We
supply our materials made in Taiwan
all over the world but we are also looking for strategic
alliances or
joint ventures in other areas," Hwang says. "We are doing this
very carefully not to
overlap what is already there."
Another key market for KNH continues to be filtration; however, the
company has spun off the
converting operation and focuses only on roll
goods production."By having a roll goods and a
converting operation
in the same company, we were basically-distancing some of the
potential
buyers who saw us as their com-petition." Hwang says.
With most of its sales in Asia and Australia, KNH's operations
are centered solely in Asia but that's
not to say a US site
isn't a possibility. The development of a proven process of
converting recycled
materials into nonwovens would open the door into
this market as the U.S government is strongly
promoting this type of
technology.
39. Rexcell.
Bengtsfors, Sweden www.rexcell.se 2010 nonwovens ales: $80 million
Key Personnel
Frank Nordberg, vice president of sales and marketing
Plants
Skapafors and Dais Lange, Sweden
Applications
Currently about 98% of Rexcell's airlaid business exists in
Europe, where it has a reported 20%
marketshare. Its business is split
evenly between airlaid and tissue and airlaid markets
including
tabletop, which is partially fueled by supply to its parent company as
well as wipes,
feminine hygiene and adult incontinence. All of its
airlaid output is based on natural fibers and,
unlike some of its
competitors, Rexcell has no capabilities in the synthetic realm.
Looking forward, executives say Rexcell's main focus will be
keeping up with market demands in
terms of both capacity and
quality."We will continue to develop ourselves as a company-the
process and the product in close relationship with our customers and
other stakeholders, with
a big focus on minimizing our energy usage and
the impact on the environment," executives say.
40. Suominen
Tampere, Finland www.suominen.fi/nonwovens 2010 nonwovens sales:
$77 million
Key Personnel
Petri Rolig, president and CEO of Suominen Corporation; Juha
Jokinen, general manager of
Suominen Nonwovens; Margareta Hulden,
director quality, technology & Sustainability of
Suominen Nonwovens;
Mads Kiilerich, director operations of Suominen Nonwovens; Erik
van
Deursen, general manager Suominen Codi Wipes.
Plants
Nakkila, Finland
ISO Status
ISO 9001, ISO 14001 environmental certification
Processes
Hydroentangled, thermal bonded, PP fiber.
Brand Names
Fibrella, Biolace, Novelin, Karelin
The big news at Suominen this year is the planned acquisition of
Ahlstrom's wipes business, which
will make it the largest wipes
maker in the world with assets in Italy, Brazil, the US and Spain,
in
addition to its existing operations in Brazil. Under the agreement,
announced last month,
Ahlstrom is selling the operations of its Home and
Personal business area to Suominen for a total of
[euro]170 million in
cash, of which Ahlstrom has committed to use a total of [euro]30 million
to
subscribe for shares in Suominen. In 2010, Ahlstrom's Home and
Personal business area generated
net sales of about [euro]291 million,
which will significantly bump up Suominen's sales from their
2010
level of [euro]59.1 million, which represented a 4% sales increase for
the year. Sales in the
company's thermal bonded segment fell to
half the level of the previous year while the spunlace
business grew. At
the same time, sales in the US and Russia increased, as did sales in
the
healthcare market.
"Needless to say that we are truly excited about the
acquisition. Together with the assets, products
and technologies
purchased our ability to serve our current and future customers on
global basis
has improved significantly," says Juka Jokinen,
general manager of Suominen Nonwovens.
Turning back to 2010, the year was a mixed bag for Finland's
Suominen Nonwovens, which
reported a 4% sales increase for the year.
Sales in the company's thermal bonded segment fell to
half the
level of the previous year while the spuniace business-grew. At the same
time, sales in the
US and Russia increased, as did sales in the
healthcare market.
"Raw material prices rose by a clear margin during the year.
Due to the tight competitive situation,
it was challenging to implement
sales price increases matching the increases in the raw material
prices
in full," says Jokinen.
In response to the challenges, Suominen has worked to improve its
operations, increasing the
efficiency of its main production lines as
well as modernizing two existing lines into one new
production
line." This modernized line can be used to manufacture products
using more versatile
raw materials and also gives us possibilities to
enter new application segments with new products,"
Jokinen
says."The modernization program has also been increasing the total
production capacity of
our plant. The program has recently been
continued by upgrading one of the thermal bonded
lines."
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
While its thermal bond business was down significantly in 2010,
Suominen reports a rebound in this
business segment as demand for value
added products for disposable hygiene products has
increased.
Suominen's Karelin is a versatile thermal bonded nonwoven, that
satisfies the need for
active skin care performance on top of fulfilling
the basic needs. The company's soft thenual bonded
nonwovens are
also used in selected wipes segments as a cost efficient alternative for
the low
grammage spunlace substrates.
Turning back to Suominen's spunlace business, the company
continues to supply the market with an
emphasis on added value products,
and these have clearly performed better compared with low
price bulk
products. For example, the Biolace range of sustainable products is
attracting constant
interest and demand in the market. In addition to
this, Suominen has a large range of value add
capabilities, such as
embossing, in its portfolio." In general we can supply a wide
variety of
alternative blends of raw materials and our pilot plant is in
constant use developing new substrates
for our customers," Jokinen
says. "Our own fiber production assets can be used not only to
develop
novel polypropylene-fibers, but also fibers based on other raw
materials than polypropylene. Our
close cooperation with customers,
catering to their needs via specialty products, is one of the
key
elements in developing Suominen's nonwovens business further."
These capabilities have helped Suominen remain strong in the
European spunlace market where the
overcapacity situation is expected to
continue as new capacitv comes onstream in Europe and
Turkey in the next
couple of months, putting further pressures on prices of standard
nonwoven
grades.
Calling this situation temporary, Jokinen said: "Spunlace is a
favored product due to its excellent
properties, and the demand for it
will further increase in the wiping segment. The spunlace market
will
keep on growing, but the Western European market will see slower growth,
when compared to
new growth regions in Eastern Europe, South America and
China."
Also benefiting the company is its long-standing customer base and
a deep cooperation and
partnership with both European and global
customers, as well as experience as a major supplier of
nonwovens to the
industry. Other recent efforts have been introducing lower grammages and
more
affordable fiber mixes to its customer base. Another strong focus
has been sustainability.
"We continuously develop our operations to reduce
environmental impacts and minimize our
products' ecological
footprint during their life cycle,"Jokinen says."We have
implemented several
sustainability programs to reduce water and energy
usage as well as raw material usage, waste
volumes and emissions. At the
same time, we are increasing the number of biodegradable
alternatives in
our Biolace product range. Our operations have been certified to the ISO
14001
standard, and all our products have an Oko-Tex Standard 100 Class
I certificate."
A good example of sustainability efforts is in Suominen's
wastewater treatment project. Since
autumn 2010, wastewater is led
through a wastewater pipeline to the regional treatment facility.
The
pipeline was built in cooperation with the neighboring municipalities
and the project is
regarded as the major environmental investment in
Suominen's province this decade.
Amidst all of these efforts, customers remain king at Suominen
Nonwovens and serving them
remains the company's first priority.
"We have improved our cost base, invested in machine
upgrades and
increased our sales and new business development efforts considerably.
All of this
has been done in order to acquire new business, and the
results of this will be visible during 2011.
Furthermore, we have
successfully used a lot of effort to increase the general competence of
our
employees."