World Nonwovens Industry: Profiles of 20 Leading Producers: part 2 of 3, 2008/09

• Publication date: May 2009

Worldwide sales of nonwoven roll goods continued to increase at a mid-single digit growth rate in 2007, reaching nearly US$17 bn. Of the 2007 total, about 79% of sales, worth around US$13.4 bn, was generated by just 40 producers. Sales of the 20 medium sized producers profiled in this report—which rank from number 11 to number 30 among the world’s leading companies—ranged individually from US$125 mn to US$237 mn and together ...

Worldwide sales of nonwoven roll goods continued to increase at a mid-single digit growth rate in
2007, reaching nearly US$17 bn. Of the 2007 total, about 79% of sales, worth around US$13.4 bn,
was generated by just 40 producers.
Sales of the 20 medium sized producers profiled in this report—which rank from number 11 to number
30 among the world’s leading companies—ranged individually from US$125 mn to US$237 mn and
together accounted for about 18% of the global total.
The 20 companies ranking 11-30 include long established players as well as new ones. Hollingsworth
& Vose has been in the business for more than 160 years but Pegas Nonwovens and Concert
Industries are relatively new companies. Recent investments among the 20 companies include new lines
in the Czech Republic and Denmark for Fibertex as well as new lines in China and Russia for
Avgol—which is also upgrading its North Carolina lines. Companhia Providência plans to add two
new spunmelt lines in the USA and Concert Industries is adding a new air-laid line in Germany.
This will be the last year in which Western Nonwovens will be profiled in this series of reports as a
separate entity. In mid-2008 the company filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of
the US bankruptcy code and most of its plants were subsequently sold to Milliken Industries. Another
company which has faced difficulties is Propex Fabrics, the world’s largest manufacturer of
needlepunch nonwovens. Propex also filed for protection under Chapter 11 in 2008, but in April 2009
it obtained approval to sell its assets as a going concern to an affiliate of Wayzata Investment
Partners—a private equity firm.

Textile Manufacturing Industry in North America

SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
The global nonwovens market
Medium sized companies
Companies which joined the list of 20 medium sized producers
Companies which exited from the list of 20 medium sized producers
Companies which remained among the 20 medium sized producers
Geographical location
11 AVGOL, ISRAEL
Products and markets
Development of manufacturing capacity
12 COMPANHIA PROVIDÊNCIA, BRAZIL
Products and markets
Facilities
12 HOLLINGSWORTH & VOSE, USA
High Efficiency and Specialty Filtration
Engineered Composite Materials (ECM) and Industrial Specialties
Battery Separator & Additive Materials
Engine & Industrial Filtration
14 CONCERT INDUSTRIES, CANADA
Products and markets
Growth strategy
Reorganisation and restructuring
15 TWE GROUP, GERMANY
Company structure
Products and markets
16 PROPEX FABRICS, USA
Products and markets
17 COLBOND, NETHERLANDS
Ownership
New products, and product and process improvement
Manufacturing facilities
Products and markets
Building and construction
Civil engineering
Flooring
Automotive
Construction 18 JAPAN VILENE, JAPAN
Investments and joint ventures
New technology
Products and markets
Automotive Materials
Industrial and Electrical Materials
Air Filters
Medical and Consumer Materials
Apparel Materials
Strategies for future growth
19 VITA NONWOVENS (FORMERLY BRITISH VITA), UK
Products and markets
20 C H SANDLER, GERMANY
Manufacturing facilities
Products and markets
Product innovation
21 ASAHI KASEI (FORMERLY ASAHI CHEMICAL), JAPAN
Products and markets
22 PEGAS NONWOVENS, CZECH REPUBLIC
Investment
Manufacturing facilities
Products and markets
23 JACOB HOLM INDUSTRIES, SWITZERLAND
Company development
Business structure
Facilities
Products and markets
24 GEORGIA-PACIFIC (FORMERLY FORT JAMES), USA
Staff changes
Corporate structure
Products and markets
Technology
25 TOYOBO, JAPAN
Polyester spunbonded nonwovens
Needlepunched nonwovens
26 MITSUI CHEMICALS, JAPAN
Products, markets and manufacturing facilities
27 LYDALL, USA
Thermal/Acoustical
Automotive
Industrial
New product introductions Performance Materials
Geographical markets
Closures
28 UNION INDUSTRIES, ITALY
29 ANDREW INDUSTRIES GROUP, UK
Products and markets
Manufacturing facilities
30 WESTERN NONWOVENS, USA
Company structure
Products and markets
Operations by segment
Industrial Nonwovens
Performance Insulation
Expansion
Acquisitions
Divestments
List of tables
Table 1: Sales by the world's top 40 roll goods producers, 2007