09.01.11
Seoul, South Korea
www.torayamk.com
2011 Nonwovens Sales: $224 million
Key Personnel: Y.K. Lee, president and CEO; W.S. Chun, vice president/head of fiber division; Hitoshi Takeuchi, senior director/fiber division; W.C. Hwang, senior director/fiber division; J.N. Kim, president of TPN; Y.K. Kim, president of TPJ
Plants: Korea, China, Indonesia
Processes: Spunbond PP (SS, SSS, SMS, SSMMS, SMMMS, bicomponent), PET (embossed and needlepunched)
Brands: Livsen
Major Markets: Hygiene, medical, protective apparel, industrial specialties, agricultural, upholstery, filtration, construction, geotextile
Sales surged 20% at Toray Advanced Materials Korea (TAK) thanks to the successful startup of a second spunmelt line in Nantong, China in early 2011. The company’s second Chinese line added 20,000 tons of capacity to the Chinese operation, bringing the total output to 38,000 tons per year. A third line is currently ramping up and expected to add another 20,000 tons. This third line makes Toray Polytech Nantong, the Chinese company, the largest supplier of spunbond nonwovens in China, allowing the company to capitalize on the region’s strong growth potential.
“We estimate that the Asian market is growing for high quality polypropylene spunbond by more than 10% due to high demand for baby diapers,” says Evan Lee, deputy general manager of the fiber marketing team. “This has made many polypropylene spunbond makers expand capacity to dominate in the growing Asian market and do more business in the Asian market. But we have a strong relationship with our customers and a good sales network that can continue to grow.”
Elsewhere in Asia, TAK established an Indonesian company, Toray Polytech Jakarta, in 2011. At the time of the investment, executives said Indonesia was chosen because of its large population and strong economic growth.
The new site’s first line, a five-beam polypropylene-based spunbond line is expected to be complete in March 2013, manufacturing 20,000 tons of nonwovens per year and significantly broadening TAK’s footprint in Asia. “Once we finish this expansion, TAK can cover all of the Asian countries more promptly and safely from our three production sites in East Asia, China and South Asia,” says Lee.
TAK’s original manufacturing operation in Gumi, South Korea, manufactured 43,000 tons of polypropylene spunbond nonwovens for the hygiene market in a number of Asian markets, including Japan, Korea and China. While the company has not made any plans to expand its Korean factory recently because of the region’s maturity in the polypropylene spunbond market, on the other hand, the company has operated its second polyester spunbond line for the geotextile, construction, filtration and other industrial markets since August 2012.
All of this investment is being driven largely by growth in the Asian economy, Lee says. “Because personal income in China, Indonesia and Vietnam is increasing quickly, the baby diaper market in Asia is also growing so quickly and this makes diaper makers invest aggressively. They want to have a better supply chain to meet their expansion plan.”
Aside from adding two large lines to come on-stream, with 40,000 tons of capacity in China and Indonesia, TAK has not made any concrete expansion announcements yet. However, Lee did say the company will continue to invest at its sites in China and Indonesia until 2020 and a new investment in another emerging market is being examined. For now, success in China and ASEAN will be a top priority.
“We have more than 21 years of experience and know-how in the spunbond business and our mother company, Toray Group, has an excellent overseas network, which has helped our success,” he says. “Among the global hygiene markets, there is not any other place like China or the ASEAN regions where the diaper business is growing so fast. That is why we chose those sites.”
www.torayamk.com
2011 Nonwovens Sales: $224 million
Key Personnel: Y.K. Lee, president and CEO; W.S. Chun, vice president/head of fiber division; Hitoshi Takeuchi, senior director/fiber division; W.C. Hwang, senior director/fiber division; J.N. Kim, president of TPN; Y.K. Kim, president of TPJ
Plants: Korea, China, Indonesia
Processes: Spunbond PP (SS, SSS, SMS, SSMMS, SMMMS, bicomponent), PET (embossed and needlepunched)
Brands: Livsen
Major Markets: Hygiene, medical, protective apparel, industrial specialties, agricultural, upholstery, filtration, construction, geotextile
Sales surged 20% at Toray Advanced Materials Korea (TAK) thanks to the successful startup of a second spunmelt line in Nantong, China in early 2011. The company’s second Chinese line added 20,000 tons of capacity to the Chinese operation, bringing the total output to 38,000 tons per year. A third line is currently ramping up and expected to add another 20,000 tons. This third line makes Toray Polytech Nantong, the Chinese company, the largest supplier of spunbond nonwovens in China, allowing the company to capitalize on the region’s strong growth potential.
“We estimate that the Asian market is growing for high quality polypropylene spunbond by more than 10% due to high demand for baby diapers,” says Evan Lee, deputy general manager of the fiber marketing team. “This has made many polypropylene spunbond makers expand capacity to dominate in the growing Asian market and do more business in the Asian market. But we have a strong relationship with our customers and a good sales network that can continue to grow.”
Elsewhere in Asia, TAK established an Indonesian company, Toray Polytech Jakarta, in 2011. At the time of the investment, executives said Indonesia was chosen because of its large population and strong economic growth.
The new site’s first line, a five-beam polypropylene-based spunbond line is expected to be complete in March 2013, manufacturing 20,000 tons of nonwovens per year and significantly broadening TAK’s footprint in Asia. “Once we finish this expansion, TAK can cover all of the Asian countries more promptly and safely from our three production sites in East Asia, China and South Asia,” says Lee.
TAK’s original manufacturing operation in Gumi, South Korea, manufactured 43,000 tons of polypropylene spunbond nonwovens for the hygiene market in a number of Asian markets, including Japan, Korea and China. While the company has not made any plans to expand its Korean factory recently because of the region’s maturity in the polypropylene spunbond market, on the other hand, the company has operated its second polyester spunbond line for the geotextile, construction, filtration and other industrial markets since August 2012.
All of this investment is being driven largely by growth in the Asian economy, Lee says. “Because personal income in China, Indonesia and Vietnam is increasing quickly, the baby diaper market in Asia is also growing so quickly and this makes diaper makers invest aggressively. They want to have a better supply chain to meet their expansion plan.”
Aside from adding two large lines to come on-stream, with 40,000 tons of capacity in China and Indonesia, TAK has not made any concrete expansion announcements yet. However, Lee did say the company will continue to invest at its sites in China and Indonesia until 2020 and a new investment in another emerging market is being examined. For now, success in China and ASEAN will be a top priority.
“We have more than 21 years of experience and know-how in the spunbond business and our mother company, Toray Group, has an excellent overseas network, which has helped our success,” he says. “Among the global hygiene markets, there is not any other place like China or the ASEAN regions where the diaper business is growing so fast. That is why we chose those sites.”