News, Markets & Analysis for the Nonwovens Industry Subscribe



Tools

Geotextiles: Highs and Lows Shape the Market



new applications, products emerge despite economic challenges



By Karen Bitz McIntyre
editor




Click here to read the full article.
The global geotextiles and geo­synthetics market on the nonwoven roll good level continue to grow as manufacturers continue to depend on a wide range of technologies to meet the needs of civil engineering and other application areas. However, increased polypropylene and other raw material costs as well as escalated energy prices, combined with a failure to pass along these costs have made this market challenging.

Polypropylene resin costs have climbed 20% or more since the beginning of the year, on top of a series of increases felt during the past several years before that. This has required suppliers to the global geotextiles market—like many companies—to increase prices. For example, last month Col­bond Nonwovens, a key supplier of erosion control, soil reinforcement and drainage materials an­nounced it would increase prices 6-9% across all of its products, joining other key nonwovens manufacturers such as Polymer Group, Inc. and Johns Manville, who also supply the global geotextiles market.

Also hurting conditions within geotextiles are economic problems, stemming largely from the U.S., where construction and other infrastructure projects have slowed, leading to less investment in geotextile applications such as drainage control, soil abatement and run-off and erosion control.

According to some manufacturers, a noticeable effect of pricing pressures and other negative economic factors on geotextiles makers is a trend toward commodity products. Whether this is achieved through lighter-weight applications or changing technology mixes depends on the applications, but makers of nonwovens have striven hard to meet the needs of this market. Colbond, for instance, has adjusted its product range to provide its partners with competitive solutions. “Colbond is focused on efficiency improvements to compensate for risen costs, but we have now reached a limit and therefore are in the process of enforcing price increases,” said spokesperson Hannah Huebner.

However, certain areas of the geotextiles market have been able to withstand economic pressures and the segment has benefited from growth in developing areas such as preparation work for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, roadway construction throughout China and Asia and general infrastructure improvements in Eastern Europe and Soviet Block countries. Additionally, eco-consciousness throughout the world has created the need for membranes and other geosynthetics that not only keep nature intact but do not leave an imprint on the earth.