rnrn

You won't get very far reading this year's top company report without hearing about rising raw material prices. Rising petroleum prices have impacted nearly everyone in the nonwovens value chain, from machinery and equipment suppliers to end users, and the world's largest nonwovens producers are no exception. The bulk of nonwoven materials are made from polypropylene or polyester, both petroleum-based raw materials, and their costs have been driven sharply higher in recent months. And, while many nonwovens producers have tried to compensate for these increases with improved efficiencies and even some price increases of their own, rising costs have impacted top line growth for many.

rn

Despite these troubles, the nonwovens manufacturers profiled in this issue remain optimistic. There are currently no fewer than 15 nonwovens production lines being installed by the 42 companies featured in this issue. And, while a great deal of attention has been paid to growth in developing regions such as Latin America and Asia-Pacific, the greatest number of lines, seven, are being built in the U.S., showing that the North American industry continues to have growth potential.

rn

Additionally, investments span the industry in terms of technology including glass nonwovens, needlepunched, spunmelt—using both polyester and polypropylene—and spunlaced processes. This range of investment proves that the nonwovens industry is growing in many areas, from consumer to industrial, and throughout the world. I'm sure we will be reporting on where all of this new capacity will penetrate in future editions of Nonwovens Industry.

rn

The Report By The Numbers

rn

This year our top companies report profiles 42 companies located throughout the world. Newcomers include construction specialist Owens-Corning, debuting at number 11, and South American spunmelt producer Fitesa, which is ranked number 42. We are always pleased to welcome new nonwovens companies into this annual issue as new additions provide greater scope to our report.

rn

Dropping out of this year's report were Italian roll goods makers Tenotex, which was purchased by BBA Fiberweb late last year, and Pantex, which split into two companies in 2004.

rn

Freudenberg continues its uninterrupted run as the world's largest producer of nonwovens, reporting $1.4 billion in sales in 2004 but this position continues to be threatened by sales gains among other large nonwovens producers such as DuPont and Kimberly-Clark, whose sales rose to $1.25 and $1.15 billion, respectively. Also, BBA Fiberweb, reported sales above $1 billion for the first time ever, thanks to two significant acquisitions.

rn

Each company is ranked on the basis of their 2004 sales, which were translated from local currencies into U.S. dollars using the average exchange rate for 2004, as provided by www.oanda.com. The continued strength of the Euro continued to give Euro-based companies an edge over firms located in other regions, most notably the U.S. Therefore, performance should not be judged solely on sales figures—although ranking companies by sales was necessary due to the nature of this report—but also on key activities reported in each profile. All sales figures were reported by the company, except in certain cases, such as Kimberly-Clark, Foss Manufacturing and Colbond, where they were based on industry estimates.

rn

Alphabetical Listingrn

rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn

Company	Company ranking/last year's ranking
Ahlstrom	6/6
Andrew Industries	33/36
Asahi Kasei	12/13
Avgol	25/26
BBA	4/4
British Vita	14/14
Buckeye	9/9
Colbond	8/8
Companhia Providencia	40/39
Concert Industries	27/28
DuPont	2/2
Fibertex	16/24
Fitesa	42/*
Foss Manufacturing	18/14
Freudenberg	1/1
Georgia	Pacific	21/16
Hollingsworth & Vose	13/12
Jacob Holm	32/31
Japan Vilene	10/10
Johns Manville	7/7
Kimberly	Clark	3/3
KNH	39/41
Kuraray	37/37
Lantor	41/43
Lohmann	17/13
Lydall	24/27
Mitsui Chemicals	23/21
Orlandi	28/28
Owens	Corning	11/*
Pegas	30/35
PGI	5/5
Precision Custom Coatings	38/39
Propex Fabrics	35/33
Polyfelt	22/24
Sandler AG	15/18
SI	26/22
Suominen Nonwovens	29/30
Textilgruppe Hof	31/32
Toray Saehan	36/38
Toyobo	19/16
Unitika	34/33
Western Nonwovens	20/22
*new to this year's survey

rn
rnrn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn

Company 2004 Global Nonwovens Sales
1	Freudenberg	$1.4 billion
2	DuPont	$1.25 billion
3	Kimberly-Clark	$1.15 billion
4	BBA Fiberweb	$1 billion
5	PGI Nonwovens	$845 million
6	Ahlstrom	$827 million
7	Johns Manville	$550 million
8	Colbond	$265 million
9	Buckeye Technologies	$226 million
10	Japan Vilene	$197 million
11	Owens-Corning	$191 million
12	Asahi Kasei	$176 million
13	Hollingsworth & Vose	$175 million
14	British Vita	$170 million
15	Sandler	$162 million
16	Fibertex	$160 million
17	Lohmann	$158 million
18	Foss Manufacturing	$157 million
19	Toyobo	$145 million
20	Western Nonwovens	$140 million
21	Georgia-Pacific	$139 million
22	Polyfelt	$128 million
23	Mitsui Chemical	$127 million
24	Lydall	$126 million
25	Avgol	$123 million
26	SI Corporation	$120 million
27	Concert Industries	$117 million
28	Orlandi	$97 million
29	Suominen Nonwovens	$93.5 million
30	Pegas	$93 million
31	Textilgruppe Hof	$91 million
32	Jacob Holm	$91 million
33	Andrew Industries	$89 million
34	Unitika	$85 million
35	Propex Fabrics (formerly BP Amoco)	$82 million
36	Toray Saehan	$80 million
37	Kuraray	$71 million
38	Precision Custom Coatings	$70 million
39	KNH	$65 million
40	Companhia Providencia	$60 million
41	Lantor BV	$53 million
42	Fitesa	$37 million

rn