The World Nonwovens Industry: Profiles of 20 Leading Producers--part 2 of 3, 2010/11

• Publication date: March 2010

Worldwide sales of nonwoven roll goods continued to increase at a mid-single digit growth rate in 2008 to reach more than US$18 bn. Of the 2008 total, about 76% of sales, worth around US$13.6 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$112 mn to US$240 mn and togethe...

Worldwide sales of nonwoven roll goods continued to increase at a mid-single digit growth rate in
2008 to reach more than US$18 bn. Of the 2008 total, about 76% of sales, worth around US$13.6 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$112 mn to US$240 mn and
together accounted for about 21% 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 spunmelt lines from Union Industries and
Companhia Providência. Meanwhile, Hollingsworth & Vose and Lydall continue to focus on new
product development while Sandler and Jacob Holm have increased their role in the spunlaced wipes
market.
This is the last year in which Concert Industries, a specialist in air-laid nonwovens based in Canada,
is profiled in this series of reports as a separate entity. In early 2010, Concert was purchased by the
US paper manufacturer and wet-laid nonwovens producer Glatfelter. In the future, Concert’s sales will
be grouped with those of Glatfelter.

Fiber Industry in South Korea

List of contents
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 BUCKEYE TECHNOLOGIES, USA
Products and markets
Market development
Manufacturing facilities
Investments
Packaging technology
11 HOLLINGSWORTH & VOSE, USA
High Efficiency and Specialty Filtration
Engineered Composite Materials (ECM) and Industrial Specialties
Battery Separator & Additive Materials
Engine & Industrial Filtration
13 SANDLER, GERMANY
Manufacturing facilities
Products and markets
Product innovation
14 CONCERT INDUSTRIES, CANADA
Products and markets
Growth strategy
Reorganisation and restructuring
14 TWE GROUP, GERMANY
Company structure
Products and markets
16 COMPANHIA PROVIDÊNCIA, BRAZIL
Products and markets
Facilities
17 JAPAN VILENE, JAPAN
Investments and joint ventures
New technology
Products and markets
Automotive Materials
Apparel and Medical Materials
Industrial and Electrical Materials
Air Filters
Strategies for future growth
18 PEGAS NONWOVENS, CZECH REPUBLIC
Investment
Manufacturing facilities
Products and markets
19 ASAHI KASEI (FORMERLY ASAHI CHEMICAL), JAPAN
Products and markets
19 COLBOND, NETHERLANDS
Ownership
New products, and product and process improvement
Manufacturing facilities
Products and markets
Building and construction
Civil engineering
Flooring
Automotive
21 PROPEX HOLDING (FORMERLY PROPEX FABRICS), USA
Products and markets
22 JACOB HOLM INDUSTRIES, SWITZERLAND
Company development
Business structure
Facilities
Products and markets
23 VITA NONWOVENS (FORMERLY BRITISH VITA), UK
Products and markets
24 TOYOBO, JAPAN
Polyester spunbonded nonwovens
Needlepunched nonwovens
25 MITSUI CHEMICALS, JAPAN
Products, markets and manufacturing facilities
26 GEORGIA-PACIFIC (FORMERLY FORT JAMES), USA
Corporate structure
Products and markets
Technology
27 TORAY SAEHAN, SOUTH KOREA
Facilities
Products and market
28 UNION INDUSTRIES, ITALY
29 ANDREW INDUSTRIES GROUP, UK
Products and markets
Manufacturing facilities
30 LYDALL, USA
Thermal/Acoustical
Automotive
Industrial
Performance Materials
Geographical markets
Closures
List of tables
Table 1: Sales by the world’s top 40 roll goods producers, 2008