03.04.10
Pegas Nonwovens will begin construction on its ninth production line. The Reicofil 4 line, which will be located in Znojmo – Přímětice, Czech Republic, will produce materials mainly for the hygiene segment with the option of production for other applications. The total investment will not exceed €50 million. The new production line increase the company's annual production capacity by up to 20,000 tons depending on the product portfolio when it is launched in the second half of 2011.
“The decision of the company confirms the company's strategy to expand its capacity through investment in the latest technology. We believe that the new line, which will be Pegas’ most technologically advanced yet, will strengthen our position as the technological leader in the field of nonwoven textile production and will open a new window of opportunity for mutual cooperation with our customers, with an even stronger focus on ultralight materials, new bicomponent applications and other new materials that are planned to go into commercial production between 2012 and 2014,” said CEO František Řezáč.
The Czech Republic’s largest nonwovens producer, Pegas Nonwovens was the world’s 18th largest nonwovens producer with $209 million in annual sales in 2008. All of its existing lines are based on Reicofil technology and all are located in the Czech Republic. Its most recent line came onstream in late 2007.
According to company, 97% of sales are done in Europe, 56% of which are sold in Western Europe. Eighty-seven percent of its total sales are in the hygiene market where Pegas differentiates itself with technologically advanced materials—soft, ultra-lightweight and bi-component textiles—which are difficult to produce. Other markets for Pegas include medical, which shows great potetial, and construction, which has been seeing quite a bit of softness recently.