01.01.07
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Sales: $71 Million
Description: Key Personnel
J.C. Tai, chairman and owner; Dr. Kirk Hwang, president; George Wang, general manager China operations; Alvin Hu, wastewater business unit officer; Dr. Y. S. Chiu, technical vice president
Plants
Taipei, Taiwan; Shanghai, China
Processes
Air through bonding, thermal bonding, meltblown, airlaid, needlepunch, spunlace
Brand Names
Carnation brand for hygiene; Co-Fiber for industrial specialty products
Major Markets
Hygiene, industrial, agriculture, geotextiles
Sales in 2006 remained steady for Taiwanese roll goods producer KNH Enterprises. While filter markets saw a decrease in demand, sales in both disposable wipes and feminine hygiene markets continued to climb. The company’s investment last year in a spunlace line in China—which will be followed by a second spunlace line this year—is expected to positively impact the company’s sales going forward.
KNH expects the two new spunlace lines to boost annual spunlace production as much as 10,000 tons. “As this new capacity comes onstream, sales will certainly grow,” predicted Kirk Hwang, president. He added that KNH’s total nonwovens and composite production prior to the recent line additions was 16,000 tons, a figure that will expand to 26,000 tons this year.
Another recent capacity boost for KNH was its addition of a meltblown line in Taiwan at the end of 2006. The line was installed in anticipation of increased demand for the material in facemask and room air cleaning filtration media markets as well as in the water treatment industry, which is being targeted with a meltblown composite product.
In its core wipes business, where sales are on the rise, the company is vertically integrated. Thanks to its in-house converting capabilities, KNH sells 70% of its wipes to the skincare market, with the remaining 30% targeting medical and hygiene applications.
Geographically speaking, KNH’s main focus continues to be Asia, and the company is increasing its focus on the expanding Chinese market. “In China, customers become more sophisticated and demanding. We expect sales to grow in this region,” commented Dr. Hwang. He added that China currently represents one-third of KNH’s business with two-thirds of sales coming from other areas of Asia. “China’s share is increasing in our business,” he added.
In response to high raw material costs, KNH continues to rely on innovation as a means of overcoming pricing challenges. The company’s strategy is to create thinner fabrics while simultaneously adding value in the form of specialty attributes such as antimicrobial or odor removal features. “The key is to lower basis weights without compromising performance,” explained Dr. Hwang. “This is one way we protect product value.”
In the hygiene sector, this strategy means combining film and nonwoven capabilities on one production line. The company has added two extrusion systems to its nonwovens lines in order to cut out the lamination step and consequently save costs on adhesive. KNH brought a film/nonwovens line onstream in 2004 to produce polyethylene/nonwoven laminates for hygiene applications.
One continuing area of interest for KNH is wastewater treatment. The company has filed several patent applications for its biological reaction bed, which includes both meltblown and carded fabrics. The product, which targets the food processing and textile (printing and dyeing) industries, is used to grow bacteria in a process similar to fermentation. Wastewater treatment is becoming more important to Asian countries as they look toward modernization and try to clean up heavily polluted areas. KNH has been supplying a meltblown/needlepunch/spunbond composite membrane for these applications. The material forms the filtration media in products that use bacteria to convert debris in wastewater to carbon dioxide and water.
In the airlaid sector, the company continues to operate two facilities, one of which offers film coating capabilities. Although they originally targeted fem care applications, products from the airlaid/film line are currently being supplied to the adult incontinence market.
Looking forward, KNH expects its new capacity to expand possibilities in the medical and personal care areas. “Because we expect raw material costs to continue to rise, we will continue to focus on ultra fine fibers in an effort to cut basis weights.” Moving forward, Dr. Hwang said that KNH plans to increase the percentages of wood pulp in the composition of spunlace and airlaid nonwovens.
Sales: $71 Million
Description: Key Personnel
J.C. Tai, chairman and owner; Dr. Kirk Hwang, president; George Wang, general manager China operations; Alvin Hu, wastewater business unit officer; Dr. Y. S. Chiu, technical vice president
Plants
Taipei, Taiwan; Shanghai, China
Processes
Air through bonding, thermal bonding, meltblown, airlaid, needlepunch, spunlace
Brand Names
Carnation brand for hygiene; Co-Fiber for industrial specialty products
Major Markets
Hygiene, industrial, agriculture, geotextiles
Sales in 2006 remained steady for Taiwanese roll goods producer KNH Enterprises. While filter markets saw a decrease in demand, sales in both disposable wipes and feminine hygiene markets continued to climb. The company’s investment last year in a spunlace line in China—which will be followed by a second spunlace line this year—is expected to positively impact the company’s sales going forward.
KNH expects the two new spunlace lines to boost annual spunlace production as much as 10,000 tons. “As this new capacity comes onstream, sales will certainly grow,” predicted Kirk Hwang, president. He added that KNH’s total nonwovens and composite production prior to the recent line additions was 16,000 tons, a figure that will expand to 26,000 tons this year.
Another recent capacity boost for KNH was its addition of a meltblown line in Taiwan at the end of 2006. The line was installed in anticipation of increased demand for the material in facemask and room air cleaning filtration media markets as well as in the water treatment industry, which is being targeted with a meltblown composite product.
In its core wipes business, where sales are on the rise, the company is vertically integrated. Thanks to its in-house converting capabilities, KNH sells 70% of its wipes to the skincare market, with the remaining 30% targeting medical and hygiene applications.
Geographically speaking, KNH’s main focus continues to be Asia, and the company is increasing its focus on the expanding Chinese market. “In China, customers become more sophisticated and demanding. We expect sales to grow in this region,” commented Dr. Hwang. He added that China currently represents one-third of KNH’s business with two-thirds of sales coming from other areas of Asia. “China’s share is increasing in our business,” he added.
In response to high raw material costs, KNH continues to rely on innovation as a means of overcoming pricing challenges. The company’s strategy is to create thinner fabrics while simultaneously adding value in the form of specialty attributes such as antimicrobial or odor removal features. “The key is to lower basis weights without compromising performance,” explained Dr. Hwang. “This is one way we protect product value.”
In the hygiene sector, this strategy means combining film and nonwoven capabilities on one production line. The company has added two extrusion systems to its nonwovens lines in order to cut out the lamination step and consequently save costs on adhesive. KNH brought a film/nonwovens line onstream in 2004 to produce polyethylene/nonwoven laminates for hygiene applications.
One continuing area of interest for KNH is wastewater treatment. The company has filed several patent applications for its biological reaction bed, which includes both meltblown and carded fabrics. The product, which targets the food processing and textile (printing and dyeing) industries, is used to grow bacteria in a process similar to fermentation. Wastewater treatment is becoming more important to Asian countries as they look toward modernization and try to clean up heavily polluted areas. KNH has been supplying a meltblown/needlepunch/spunbond composite membrane for these applications. The material forms the filtration media in products that use bacteria to convert debris in wastewater to carbon dioxide and water.
In the airlaid sector, the company continues to operate two facilities, one of which offers film coating capabilities. Although they originally targeted fem care applications, products from the airlaid/film line are currently being supplied to the adult incontinence market.
Looking forward, KNH expects its new capacity to expand possibilities in the medical and personal care areas. “Because we expect raw material costs to continue to rise, we will continue to focus on ultra fine fibers in an effort to cut basis weights.” Moving forward, Dr. Hwang said that KNH plans to increase the percentages of wood pulp in the composition of spunlace and airlaid nonwovens.