Top Companies Welcome A New Century
Manufacturers transition smoothly into new millennium but raw material costs are a major concern and translation into Euro impacts EU member rankings
For more information on these companies, please refer to the print version of the September 2000issue of Nonwovens Industry.
1999 was characterized by many manufacturers as a tough year despite the fact that the worldwide economy fared well overall. “Painful” and “difficult” are not exactly the words one expects to hear when inquiring about the year in nonwovens, particularly in light of recently sunny economic skies in Asia, Europe and the U.S. The number one trend this year—reported by the overwhelming majority of Top Companies—was an unprecedented and worrisome escalation of raw material costs. This issue was on the mind of just about every manufacturer we interviewed, regardless of company size, technology and geographic positioning. Characterized by one European producer in this year’s survey as the steepest and longest price hike in the history of nonwovens (five consecutive quarters and running), the current situation is one many manufacturers thought they’d never see, with polypropylene prices—up 60-70% from a year ago—even higher than polyester. Like many other industries, nonwovens has been hard hit by gas prices that are today about 25% higher than they’ve been in a decade.
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Company (ranking last year) |
Worldwide Nonwovens Sales
|
U.S. Nonwovens Sales
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1.
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Freudenberg (1) | $1.25 billion (1.33 billion Euro) |
$244 million
(260 million Euro) (N. and S. American) |
2.
|
DuPont (2) |
$1.18 billion
|
$670 million
|
3.
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BBA (3) |
$844 million
|
$506 million
(N. and S. American) |
4.
|
PGI (4) |
$801 million
|
$417 million
|
5.
|
Kimberly-Clark (5) |
$694 million
|
$630 million
(N. American) |
6.
|
Johns Manville (6) |
$500 million
|
$290 million
|
7.
|
Ahlstrom/Dexter (35/7)* |
$296 million
|
$144 million
(N. American) |
8.
|
Japan Vilene (9) |
$219 million
|
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9.
|
Buckeye Technologies (10) |
$217 million
|
|
10
|
Colbond bv (8) |
$203 million
|
$56 million
|
11.
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BP Fabrics & Fibers (11) |
$173 million
|
$121 million
|
12.
|
Asahi Chemical (13) |
$158 million
|
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13.
|
IMP Group |
$156 million
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14.
|
Western Nonwovens (14) |
$156 million
|
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15.
|
Foss Manufacturing (12) |
$152 million
|
$130 million
|
16.
|
Hollingsworth & Vose (23) |
$150 million
|
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17.
|
Synthetic Industries (15) |
$139 million
|
$122 million
|
18.
|
Toyobo (19) |
$134 million
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19.
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Fort James (17) |
$130 million
|
$90 million
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20.
|
Lydall, Inc. (16) |
$126 million
|
$115 million
|
21.
|
Lantor/IPT Group (17) |
$121 million
|
$35 million
|
22.
|
C.H. Sandler (21) |
$118 million
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23.
|
Libeltex (21) |
$100 million
|
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24.
|
J.W. Suominen Oy (20) |
$90 million
|
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25.
|
Mitsui Chemicals (26) |
$88 million
|
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26.
|
Unitika (27) |
$83 million
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27.
|
Kuraray (27) |
$76 million
|
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28.
|
Polyfelt (24) |
$72 million
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29.
|
Textilgruppe Hof (25) |
$62 million
|
$5.3 million
|
30.
|
Companhia Providência (30) |
$60 million
|
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31.
|
Fibertex (37) |
$59 million
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Pantex (32) |
$59 million
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33.
|
Tex Tech (34) |
$57 million
|
$40 million
|
34.
|
Tenotex (29) |
$54 million
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35.
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Stearns (32) |
$53 million (95% North American)
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36.
|
Kang Na (35) |
$52 million
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37.
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Avgol (37) |
$48 million
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38.
|
Milyon (Honorable Mention) |
$40 million
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Orlandi |
$40 million
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40.
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Lohmann (40) |
$39 million
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Honorable Mention—BFF Nonwovens (39) |
$35 million
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*includes $258 million in 1999 sales for Dexter Nonwovens