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Supply Shift



capacity expansion, proposed mergers and a changing customer base add up to exciting times for spunmelt producers



By Karen Bitz McIntyre
Editor




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The largest nonwovens technology in terms of volume, spunmelt nonwovens are regaled by manufacturers for their cost and production efficiencies as well as their flexibility. In recent years, these substrates have become thinner and, at the same time, stronger, thanks to new technology on the machine end that has combated raw material price increases and price senstitivity in the hygiene market, the key end area for spunmelt nonwovens.

According to estimates provided by INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, spunmelt output globally is about two million tons and growing 8-9% annually. Approxi­mately three-quarters of this output is based on polypropylene raw materials, much of which is feeding the hygiene market. Growth in hygiene has largely been caused by a higher percentage of spunmelt materials in each individual diaper. In fact, modern diapers contain nearly 100% spunmelt nonwovens. Even the interior of the diaper, once comprised of tissue material, is now spunmelt nonwovens, as faster line speeds required stronger materials that could handle increased pressure.

As demand has grown for spunmelt nonwovens, driven by more of this product going into each individual diaper, so has capacity, with manufacturers around the world chasing this demand with state-of-the-art technology. Drivers for these new investments are three-fold. While the market is growing, creating the need for new machinery, recent investments are the result of the development of technology that has given manufacturers the ability to create fabrics with lower basis weights but they must invest in new machinery to achieve this. Likewise, newer machinery gives manufacturers the ability to create product that is more cost effective and with greater performance.