Glatfelter


Location: Vancouver, Canada

Sales: $70 million

Description: Key Personnel
Dieter Peter, Chairman & CEO; Rolf Hoevelmann, president and COO of Europe; Jay Whitman, vice president, CFO and secretary; Miles Lauzon, executive vice president of manufacturing, COO of Americas; Ken Squires, vice president, customer service  

Plants
Gatineau, Quebec; Thurso, Quebec; Charleston, SC; Falken­hagen, Germany

ISO Status
2001 certification of ISO 9001, Falkenhagen

Processes
Airlaid, thermal bonding, chemical bonding, hybrid bonding, hydro compression bonding

Brand Names
CelluWeb, SmartCore

Major Markets
Feminine hygiene, adult incontinence, baby diapers, swimwear, training pants, wipes—premium baby, household, specialty industrial, homecare, food packaging, medical, tabletop


Despite continuing problems in the global airlaid market, particularly on the commodity side, Concert Industries, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has undergone a series of initiatives to improve its business in recent months. After spending the past several years expanding its operations—in 2001 the company spent more than $61 million (CDN$95 million) on new assets and investments—the company continues to focus on streamlining its business and targeting the 83,000 metric tons in annual rated capacity of airlaid materials it produces each year into existing and new end use markets.
 
So far this strategy has worked. The company’s total roll goods sales increased 27% in 2001 to reach $70 million (CDN$109 million). Much of this sales increase can be attributed to the capacity expansion at its Concert GmbH facility in Falkenhagen, Germany, which was completed in 2000 and  fully reflected in the 2001 results, as well as the global expansion of Concert’s new facility in Gatineau, Quebec in May. The backbone of the new 310,000 square foot facility in Canada is two 2.7 meter wide airlaid lines with a total 38,000 metric tons of annual rated capacity. Additionally, the company has fully incorporated ACI, Charleston, SC, which was purchased in May 2000 for a reported $19 million, into its overall business. Executives expect Concert’s sales to grow even higher in 2002, partially through a three-year $17 million (CDN$27 million) sales contract with a North American consumer products company. Finalized in June, this contract enlists Concert to provide advanced airlaid materials from the Gatineau site. Concert chairman and CEO Dieter Peter called this contract the culmination of a strong effort from the company’s sales team and said it represents the broadening of airlaid material’s opportunities.
 
The wipes market continues to be a strong growth area for airlaid materials, particularly in North America where they are the preferred substrate for many applications. Other areas of interest to Concert include feminine hygiene, adult incontinence, food packaging and filtration.
 
While executives remain optimistic about the future, the current state of the airlaid market has brought some difficulties for Concert. The weakened economy, coupled with excess capacity and pricing pressures in the commodity sector of the airlaid market, led Concert to initiate temporary plant shutdowns in January and February. Three of Concert’s four North American operating lines were shut down for rotating two-week periods beginning in mid January. The lines resumed normal operation in late February and are now operating 80 hours per week. The company continues to monitor the North American airlaid market and will adjust operating schedules as required.
 
While the airlaid market continues to be a challenge in North America, executives expect this situation to abate by the end of 2002 as the market continues to absorb excess capacity, the economy improves and the new lines in Canada become more efficient and take on more of Concert’s core airlaid business. Concert executives expect the company also to benefit from the significant amount of activity currently going on in its product development groups. The company has completed a number of new product trials and has others in progress that are expected to result in new sales opportunities in late 2002 and 2003.
 
Executives also definitely expect the North American plants to benefit from  improvements to its operations. Now that the Gatineau site is complete, a significant portion of Concert’s Thurso production was relocated there to take better advantage of Gatineau’s larger economies of scale. Meanwhile, Thurso will be responsible for smaller and more specialized production runs. Concert is reportedly developing existing markets that will take advantage of Thurso’s unique ability to produce complex airlaid materials.
 
The European airlaid market has not bore the same problems as North America. In fact, demand is outpacing production levels at Concert’s site in Falkenhagen, Germany, which was upgraded in late 2001. The improvements, which caused a short scheduled shutdown in December 2001 of one of the facility’s two production lines, are expected to improve operating efficiencies and lower waste, leading to improved profitability in 2002.
 
In addition to capital improvements, acquisitions and new market penetration, Concert has been revamped in terms of key personnel. In January, the company appointed Rolf Hoevelmann as its new president. Mr. Hoevelmann, who most recently served as general manager of Concert GmbH, has worked for the company since 1996 and was instrumental in the start-up of the German subsidiary. February was marked by additional staff changes at Concert. Rusty Ables was named general manager for AA-Tech Systems and AA-Tech Canada, Concert’s 100% owned advanced airlaid technology engineering subsidiaries. Also at this time, Morten Hansen was named vice president of research and development for Concert’s Omega airlaid products; Ludwig Langer was named vice president, global quality assurance coordinator and Scott Barton was appointed to the position of vice president of information technology. Most recently, Jay Whitman was named chief financial officer of Concert in July. He replaced Carey Edwards who left the company to pursue personal interests.
 
In corporate news, Concert completed equity financings exceeding CDN$50 million. The majority of these funds were used to consolidate its subsidiaries into one cohesive group. After purchasing a 24.9% stake in its German subsidiary, Concert GmbH, in June 2001, and a 47.5% stake in Concert Airlaid, Gatineau, Quebec, in July 2001, Concert achieved full ownership of the German facility in February. The purchases have allowed Concert to achieve its goal of fully owning all of its subsidiaries. This new ownership structure allows for strong ties between management and operating teams and with customers, according to executives. It not only facilitates improvements in operating efficiencies by sharing best practices but also the accomplishment of its global strategies and future objectives.
 
Also, in May, Concert offered, by way of public offering, 8.5% convertible debentures for gross proceeds of $25 million. The company will reportedly use the proceeds of this sale to fund the development and installation of two second generation (Gen_2) festooners at its Falkenhagen site. Festooners allow airlaid materials to be packaged in bales rather than rolls and is the preferred method of packaging thicker materials due to storage space and transport costs, according to executives.
 
Concert was always in the forefront of the development of festooning technology for airlaid applications and has developed its first generation (Gen_1) and now the advanced Gen_2 festooner, according to company executives. The Gen_2 festooners are expected to overcome a patent dispute Concert is currently involved in with its main competitor and will allow Concert to offer festooned materials worldwide to all airlaid material converters.
Location: Quebec, Canada

Sales: $82 million

Description: Key Personnel
Raoul Heredia, president

Plants
Gatineau, Quebec; Thurso, Quebec; Charleston, SC; Germany

Processes
Airlaid

Major Markets
Wipes, feminine hygiene, diapers

It’s been a tough year for airlaid specialist Concert Industries, Quebec, Canada. The company has grappled with overcapacity in its core markets, credit problems and an unsuccessful patent battle related to festooning technology with one of its chief competitors.
 
In August, the company addressed these problems by filing for protection under its creditors arrangement act and announcing in increase in its operating line of credit. The filing affected Concert’s manufacturing sites in Quebec and South Carolina; the company’s German facility was not affected.
 
In announcing these measures, Concert officials attributed several factors to its recent troubles. For one, a significant amount of airlaid capacity came onstream in 2001, making it difficult for Concert to get fair prices for its materials. Concert was a key contributor to this overcapacity situation in 2001. That year, the company installed two side-by-side lines in Gatineau, Quebec, with a combined capacity of 38,000 metric tons. Also affecting Concert’s bottom line was a worldwide economic slowdown, oversupply, continued losses at its Charleston plant and an unexpected change in the product mix of one of its major customers.
 
To remedy the situation, Concert is seeking potential buyers of the Charleston, SC site it purchased with ACI in 2000. If a buyer cannot be found, it will be closed and its equipment will be transferred to other facilities. Also, the company headquarters will be relocated from Vancouver, B.C., to Gatineau, Quebec and a special committee of the board of directors will examine these issues.
 
Another measure taken by Concert this year was the appointment of turnaround specialist Raoul Heredia as president. Mr. Heredia served as CFO of Peerless Carpet Corporation. During his tenure with Peerless, he undertook a reorganization of the company that eventually led to its sale. Former president and founder Dieter Peter continues to serve Concert as company chairman.
Location: Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

Sales: $117 MILLION

Description: Key Personnel
Raoul Heredia, president

Plants
Gatineau, Thurso, Quebec, Germany

Processes
Airlaid

Major Markets
Wipes, feminine hygiene, diapers

Despite continued financial problems, airlaid producer Concert Industries was able to grow its sales nearly 40% in 2003, to reach CDN$162.8 million ($117 million).
 
This significant sales growth was attributed to the fact that 2003 was Concert’s Gatineau facility’s first full year of operation. The Gatineau site was built in 2001 to house two side-by-side airlaid lines with a combined capacity of 38,000 tons. It is unclear how much of that capacity is currently being utilized. Beyond Gatineau, Concert also attri­buted continued success of its European operations to the rise in sales.
 
Sharp sales increases, however, have not added up to earnings success for the company. In 2003, the company recorded a net loss of $167 million, which largely related to write downs and refinancing related to North America. Chief among these is the closure of a facility in Charleston, SC, which was purchased from ACI in 2000 and the relocation of the company’s corporate headquarters from Vancouver to Quebec.
 
Also contributing to these problems have been pricing pressures within the North American airlaid market. In August 2003, these pressures resulted in Concert’s filing for protection from its creditors arrangement under CCAA Proceedings. This order included Concert’s North American operations; its European business was not affected by the situation. Concert’s most recent announcement regarding CCAA indicated that this order was effective until September 30. Until that time, all operations are being considered under a restructuring measure, according to reports.
 
In announcing this update, Concert also indicated that it had narrowed its 2004 second quarter loss from CDN$5.9 million during the same period of last year to CDN$0.9 million last year. Meanwhile, sales continued to their climb, up nearly 18% to CDN$45.7 million this year. Additionally, gross margins were able to increase 49.2% thanks to increased volumes and improved productivity and fixed expenses dropped significantly on ramped-up product development efforts and reduced overhead costs.
Location: Gatineau, Quebec

Sales: $117 million

Description: Key Personnel
Tony Molluso, CEO

Plants
Gatineau, Thurso, Quebec, Germany

Processes
airlaid

Major Markets
wipes, feminine hygiene, diapers

Under new management is airlaid specialist Concert Industries. The Gatineau, Quebec-based company was purchased in full by Brascan Asset Management’s Tricap Fund on December 31, 2004 after more than 18 months of economic uncertainty. The company’s Canadian operations had been in Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act protection, similar to U.S. bankruptcy protection, prior to the Brascan purchase.
 
In April, Brascan brought in turnaround specialist Tony Molluso as president and CEO of Concert, who has been charged with returning the company to profitability by year’s end. “Brascan spent a year, or more than a year, looking at Concert before buying it,” he said. “Obviously, they see something good in this business. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have spent $100 million on it.”

Among Concert’s winning qualities is its strong focus on airlaid nonwovens. All of its 80,000 tons of output, located at three plants in Gatineau and Falkenhagen, Germany, comprise airlaid. In spite of its troubles reaching profitability, Concert has been able to significantly grow its sales in recent years. Now a privately held company, Concert does not reveal its sales and earnings figures, but prior to the Brascan purchase, in 2003, sales increased some 40% as new capacity in Gatineau came onstream.
 
And, the airlaid market in general has benefited from some capacity reductions—Concert’s closure of its Charleston, SC facility and competitor Buckeye Technologies’ shutdown of a Cork, Ireland line—as well as picked-up demand for the substrate. Now experts say that pricing levels in airlaid are more balanced than they’ve been in several years.
 
“Airlaid has not only recovered from an economic standpoint,” Mr. Molluso said. “You have to see how important airlaid technology is to Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble. Considering we are the only company strictly producing airlaid nonwovens, that’s got to mean something.”
 
Currently, about 75% of Concert’s airlaid output in the U.S. serves the feminine hygiene market with the remaining largely targeting disposable wipes. In Europe, feminine hygiene is even more important to the company, representing a reported 95% of sales.
 
Mr. Molluso said that branching into new areas will be a large part of Concert’s recovery plan. One key area will be the household wipes segment where cost efficiency and flexibility can rival competition in the spunlaced market. “We are beefing up product development, technology and marketing efforts for new products,” he added. “Especially with spunlace being so volatile due to plastic and oil prices, airlaid can have a definite advantage.”
 
In addition to displacing competing technologies, new markets such as tabletop, which is already booming in Europe, show great potential in North America.
 
“We have 80,000 tons of capacity and it’s our job to fill up those lines,” Mr. Molluso said.
 
Getting Concert back on track, for the long term, is expected to take three to five years, according to Mr. Molluso, but the good news is Brascan remains committed to growing this business. And, for now this business is healthy and ready to grow.

“We have just come out of CAA protection and the good thing is we have no debt,” Mr. Molluso. “We have no interest payments or huge burden over our heads so we can focus on building the business. We believe opportunities will present themselves and we will have an organization that is flexible and focused enough to take advantage of them as they happen.”
Location: Gatineau, Quebec

Sales: $110 million

Description: Key Personnel
Tony Molluso, CEO

Plants
Gatineau & Thurso, Quebec, Canada; Falkenhagen, Germany

Processes
Airlaid

Major Markets
Wipes, feminine hygiene, homecare


It’s been a good year for Concert Industries. Less than two years since the once-strapped airlaid producer was purchased by Brookfield Asset Management’s (formerly Brascan) Tricap Fund, Concert has been able to return its Gatineau operation, which contains two side-by-side airlaid lines, to profitability.
 
According to CEO Tony Molluso, Concert achieved its goal, several months ahead of schedule, by drastically changing the way it does business. For one, it started running its machines only when customer demands warranted it; for another, it exited businesses that were not profitable. These changes meant a workforce reduction of 30% but executives hope to hire back workers as Concert continues to grow its business.
 
“We had to really rationalize our business,” Mr. Molluso said. “We took out several millions of dollars worth of product that didn’t make us any money so now we are making less product but what we are making we are making money on.”
 
Under its prior ownership, Concert used to run its line 24/7 but was left with excess product, which was either stored indefinitely in a warehouse or, even worse, wasted. Now, the company works closely with its customers to forecast their needs and runs its machines on an as-needed basis.
 
Another major initiative was a reduction in its consumer wipes business, an area where Concert’s technology cannot fetch the price it deserves. While, Concert still targets wipes, the percentage of its business targeting this market has dropped from 20% to 5%.
 
“Our machines were made for fem care and home care products so that’s what we are making. We still have some wipes business but it’s sporadic, not something that we do on a regular basis,” Mr. Molluso said.  “Wipes are generic products that sell cheaply and don’t make any money. What is the sense of committing machine time to this area when we can commit it to profitable businesses?”
 
Restoring profitability also meant idling a smaller airlaid line in Thurso, Quebec, an action that could be reversed if Concert’s business continues to grow. In fact, expansion is a definite plan for Concert’s future as the company’s European operation in Falkenhagen, Germany is completely sold out.
 
“We are able to serve our North American needs from Gatineau so we didn’t need to keep running Thurso,” Mr. Molluso said. “But, we have to definitely add capacity to Falkenhagen because you cannot achieve topline growth when you are operating at a sold-out status.”
 
Concert executives are currently examining strategies for this growth, which come in the form of an acquisition, a plant expansion or even a greenfield location in a completely new area.
 
“Returning to profitability was one year ahead of schedule,” Mr. Molluso said. “This gives us a little more time and resources to decide our next move. We are not just looking for ways to fill up our lines, we are looking at specific products that highlight our technology.”
Location: Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

Sales: $132 million

Description: Key Personnel
Corporate: Pierre McNeil, acting president and chief executive officer; Rolf Hövelmann,  senior vice president and COO;Don Habbick, chief financial officer. European Operations: Rolf Hövelmann, managing director of Concert Europe GmbH and AAT Systems GmbH ; Jorg Schlautmann, managing director, sales, R&D and quality; Torsten Gartner, managing director, manufacturing & business systems. Canadian Operations: Barry Downing, vice president and general manager; Ken Squires, director of sales; Alain Mercier, director of operations

Canadian Operations
Gatineau, QC

Processes
Airlaid capability for thermal, latex, multi- and hydrogen-bonded. Festooner capacity for finishing and packaging.

Products
Feminine hygiene, home care, food pads and premium wipes.

European Operations
Falkenhagen, Germany

Processes
Airlaid capability for thermal, latex, multi and hydrogen-bonded. Festooner capacity for finishing and packaging

Products
Feminine hygiene, premium wipes, food pads, home care, table top, adult incontinence and cosmetic towels.

Nearly three years after its purchase by Brascan Asset Management’s Tricap Partners Ltd., Gatineau, Quebec, Canada-based Concert Industries is continuing its evolution into a leader in the global specialty airlaid market. Thanks to a successful turnaround of its Gatineau operations and consistent top performance from its German facility in Falkenhagen, Concert has mastered operational excellence and is well positioned for growth opportunities, according to executives. In 2006, the company’s sales were approximately CDN150 million and this figure is set to increase further as Concert’s Gatineau operation continues to increase its capacity.
 
The bulk of Concert’s airlaid output targets the feminine hygiene market but other applications include specialty wipe products, food pads, adult incontinence, tabletop and a number of other niche areas, according to the director of sales of the Canadian operations, Ken Squires. “Concert is putting more emphasis on new niche markets that we think could represent significant value,” he said. As it increases its focus on new markets, Concert has also made the strategic decision to exit markets—such as commodity consumer wipes—that have proven unprofitable, instead putting more resources behind markets where it has a proven track record such as feminine hygiene.
 
“The feminine hygiene segment is our largest end use market. We will maintain and strengthen our preferred supplier status to the largest global airlaid customers by continuing to offer the industry’s highest level of technical expertise,” said acting president and CEO Pierre McNeil. Mr. McNeil, a Tricap veteran, was named acting CEO earlier this year following the sudden death of CEO Tony Molluso, the man credited with much of Concert’s turnaround.
 
“(The impact of Tony’s death) was hard but we did not lose any momentum because the team under him was so strong,” Mr. McNeil said. “Though this facilitated my transition into the CEO role, Tony’s presence and positive attitude is still missed. He had a very good network in the industry and a really good sense of how to grow the business.”
 
Since taking over Concert, TriCap has focused on returning the company, which had been severely hit by overcapacity issues affecting the global airlaid market, to profitability. Efforts included the shutdown of a smaller operation in Thurso, Canada as well as a turnaround at Concert’s Gatineau facility where two large airlaid lines were added in 2001. According to Mr. McNeil, at one point one of these lines was barely operational as the company shifted its production cycle to meet market demand. Recently, however, production has been increasing steadily at the facility as Concert enjoys gains in its existing market and taps new areas for growth.
 
“In Gatineau, our challenge in the last two years has been to make the operation viable for the future,” Mr. McNeil said. “These changes have meant a significant reduction in the workforce and running machines more efficiently and effectively. Under these circumstances the team has done a great job to improve quality, drive costs down, properly define the product segments, increase capacity utilization, reduce waste and rebuild credibility with key customers. Today, we are pleased to announce that Gatineau is increasing employment levels and we have the lines running at high levels of capacity utilization.”
 
Recent investments in Gatineau include a newly upgraded festooner, which is delivering strong results, running at high levels of utilization. Concert is reportedly considering additional festooner improvements to drive further sales from existing and future customers interested in our leading-edge finishing and packaging technology.
 
Meanwhile, Concert’s European facility, located in Falkenhagen, Germany, has been operating at full capacity thanks to strong demand from the company’s European customers.
 
“Few companies can rival Germany’s reliable and complementary team,” said Mr. McNeil. “They are in control of the key operational processes and are always looking ahead in terms of improving the process and the products to match the needs of our customers. Specialty airlaid is a technically demanding market area due to the complex qualification process and the need for close product development relationships with our customers. Falkenhagen is at the forefront in this market. With such strengths we consider the Germany operations well-positioned for further rapid growth.”
 
In fact, the Falkenhagen operation is performing so well that Concert executives have admitted that expansion is definitely a possibility in the near term. “Concert’s primary focus is to maximize the capacity of our current operations and consider expansion where we see market growth, including Europe, Asia, the U.S. and the Middle East,” Mr. McNeil said. “We are also considering other regions such as South America where Brookfield has a strong presence.”  
 
Moving forward, Mr. McNeil’s main goal is to continue the momentum started by Mr. Molluso and maintain the success Concert has seen since its acquisition by TriCap.
 
“With the turnaround of Concert complete, my assignment to the role of acting CEO is in essence to keep the momentum and to continue growing the company. My focus has been on the future strategic direction of the business—how we grow this business from its current base—and I am very pleased with the way it’s turning out,” he said. “The results I have seen so far are very much in line with the goals we set for the company: to focus on product development, to meet our key customers’ needs and to reassure them that Concert is here for the long term.”
Location: GATINEAU, QUEBEC, CANADA

Sales: $212 million

Description: Key Personnel
Corporate: Pierre McNeil, president and chief executive officer; Rolf Hövelmann,  executive senior vice president and COO; Don Habbick, chief financial officer ;Barry Downing, vice president.
European Operations: Rolf Hövelmann, managing director of Concert Europe GmbH and AAT Systems GmbH; Jorg Schlautmann, managing director, sales, R&D and quality; Torsten Gartner, managing director, manufacturing & business systems.
Canadian Operations: Barry Downing, vice president and general manager; Ken Squires, vice president director of sales; Alain Mercier, vice president director of operations

Processes/Canada
Airlaid capability for thermal, latex, multi- and hydrogen-bonded. Festooner capacity for finishing and packaging.

Markets/Canada
Feminine hygiene, home care, food pads and premium wipes

Processes/Falkehagen, Germany
Airlaid capability for thermal, latex, multi and hydrogen-bonded. Festooner capacity for finishing and packaging

Products/Falkenhagen
Feminine hygiene, premium wipes, food pads, home care, table top, adult incontinence and cosmetic towels.


Sales continue to rise for Gatineau, Quebec-based Concert Industries—a company that five years ago was in such dire straits it was forced to seek protection under the Canadian version of Chapter 11. That was before the company was purchased by Tricap Partners, a restructuring fund under the management of Brookfield Asset Management, which has put the company through a successful turnaround program. This program included the closure of certain assets as well as the exit of unprofitable businesses.
 
“Our sales have increased significantly during the past two years and are now in excess of CDN $225 million,” said CEO Pierre McNeil. “The productivity of both of our plants has grown significantly at the same time as we have brought several new products forward at both plants to meet our customers increasing demands.”
 
While Concert has room for growth in Gatineau, its operation in Falkenhagen, Germany has been operating at a sold-out status and Concert has responded to this growth by increasing output of its two side-by-side lines in Gatineau, Quebec and starting a large-scale investment at its German operations.. “Global demand for airlaid continues to grow each year,” Mr. McNeil said. “Currently, the supply situation is tighter in Europe than in North America, which is why the company chose Europe for its next expansion.”
 
Representing a €60 million investment, the European expansion will be the site’s third airlaid line. The expansion will increase Concert’s overall annual production capacity by 30% when it comes onstream in September 2009 and will add about 100 jobs to the facility, which is Concert's largest airlaid site.
 
The expansion will help the company meet existing and future growing demand of customers in Europe and Asia, and will also enable it to better serve its customers in North America from its production facility in Gatineau, Quebec.
 
“Our German plant has done an exceptional job at adding capacity through productivity improvements year over year. However, demand in the region and adjacent regions has increased at such a rapid pace that it was forecast that we would not be able to meet demand without adding an additional line in 2009,” Mr. McNeil said.
 
Meanwhile, Concert has several global customers who have operations in Asia. “In some cases our customers request a standard global product while others have adopted a more regional product focus.” Each of these situations provides Concert with interesting opportunities in this growing market.
 
In terms of end-use markets, Concert’s key focus is personal care including feminine hygiene and adult incontinence items for both the branded and private label markets. Other areas of interest include household cleaning applications and food pads, as well as emerging niche applications.
 
“Our R&D efforts are focused both on new products within our existing key markets and on applications where airlaid is not currently being used,” he said. “Both these markets represent significant potential tonnage in the coming year. In terms of niche markets, we currently sell into the construction and filtration markets.”
 
As it awaits its new German line to be complete, Concert will continue to focus on growth in both traditional and emerging markets, Mr. McNeil concluded.
 
“Growth is certainly the right term for Concert these days,” he said. “We continue to partner with our key customers globally, who rely on us to deliver top quality products today as well as be their development partner for many of their key initiatives in the future. We place a high priority on quality and innovation with our products, processes and services in order to meet our sophisticated customers’ evolving needs.”
Location: GATINEAU, QUEBEC, CANADA


Sales: $230 Million


Description: Key Personnel
Corporate: Pierre McNeil, president and chief executive officer; Rolf Hovelmann, executive senior vice president and COO; Don Habbick, chief financial officer; Barry Downing, vice president
European operations: Rolf Hovelmann, managing director; Jorg Schlautmann, managing director, sales, R&D and quality; Torsten Gartner, managing director, manufacturing & business
systems
Canadian operations: Barry Downing, vice president and general manager; Ken Squires, vice president, director of sales; Alain Mercier, vice president, director of operations

Processes/Canada
Airlaid capabilities for thermal, latex, multi and bonded; festooner capacity for finishing and packaging

Markets/Canada
Feminine hygiene, home care, food pads and premium

Processes/Germany
Airlaid capabilities for thermal, latex, multi and bonded. Festooner capacity for finishing and packaging

Products/Germany
Feminine hygiene, premium wipes, food pads, tabletop, adult incontinence and cosmetic towels

As it waits for its new European line to come onstream, Concert Industries, Gatineau, Quebec, continues to focus on serving markets that see the value of highly engineered products including feminine hygiene, adult incontinence and some specialized wipes areas. “As the innovation leader, Concert is constantly developing new materials for its existing end use segments as well as for new applications and markets,” said company CEO Pierre McNeill.

“Concert invests significant resources in research and development and continuously seeks to enter new segments that would benefit from a sophisticated airlaid material.”

With 2008 sales hitting the $230 million mark, Concert expects levels to reach $270 million this year as it continues to gain marketshare within the specialty personal hygiene markets and continues to expand as its customers move into new regions.

Based in Canada, Concert operates two lines in Gatineau as well as a European facility in Falkenhagen, Germany. While the company has room for growth in North America, it is currently awaiting the completion of a new line in Falkenhagen to ease undercapacity concerns in Europe and other regions. Representing a €60 million investment, the European expansion will be the site’s third airlaid line and will increase its annual production capacity by 30%. The new line will serve the European market as well as emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

“Concert is keen on growing in emerging regions as the growing middle classes in these regions increasingly demand modern personal hygiene products,” Mr. McNeill said. “Concert’s customers are aggressively growing in the emerging regions and Concert is well positioned to support them in their growth initiatives.”

Meanwhile, more developed regions—namely North America and Western Europe—continue to recover for the global economic crisis. While volumes in the personal hygiene market remained largely stable—as expected—customers did manage their working capital levels to generate liquidity. This impacted Concert’s sales to some extent in late 2008 and early 2009 but more recently orders have begun to grow again. Europe, meanwhile, entered the recession behind North America and has likewise been slower to come out of it . “However, both markets have seen stable demand in personal hygiene products and as a result, Concert has been able to weather the recession without significant negative impacts to its business,” Mr. McNeill said.

Keeping its business strong is nothing new for Concert. During the past several years, the company—which is owned by Tricap Partners, a restructuring fund under the management of Brookfield Asset Management—has worked hard to stay healthy. This has included the closing of some North American lines, exiting unprofitable businesses, such as the consumer wipes market, and focusing on serving markets that see the value in highly-engineered airlaid products.
Location: York, PA

Sales: $350 million

Description: Key Personnel
George Glatfelter, CEO; Dante Parrini, executive vice president and COO; Jonathan Bourget, vice president and general manager  Advanced Airlaid Materials; Lionel Bitton, general sales manager, Advanced Airlaid Materials

Plant Locations
Canada, Germany, France, U.K.

Processes
Airlaid, wetlaid

This year, the airlaid producer formerly known as Concert Industries is under new ownership. In February 2010, specialty paper manufacturer Glatfelter bought the Gatineau, Quebec-based company for a reported $235 million, representing the largest acquisition in the company’s history. The airlaid business now functions as a third business unit within Glatfelter—Advanced Airlaid Materials—which comprises about 15% of total sales.
“If you look at Glatfelter’s business model, we focus on being a product leader in niche areas,” explained Dante Parrini, executive vice president and COO of Glatfelter. “Concert was a world leader in the feminine hygiene market, and we were very impressed with what Concert had achieved on its own and felt the size and scope of Glatfelter could enhance this. We are here to stay and we have the capital to help the business grow in the future.”
In January, Mr. Parrini will succeed George Glatfelter as the company’s next CEO.
Glatfelter has spent the last decade working to build its business by expanding into new areas largely through acquisitions rather than Greenfield investments, which present the challenge of introducing incremental capacity into the market. Through acquisition, Glatfelter has not only bought existing capacity but also gained intellectual property and know-how.
“This is our fifth acquisition since 1998 and it is consistent with our strategy to build on areas where we are already a leader,” Mr. Parrini said. “We had been looking to expand more into engineered fiber-based materials and we looked at a lot of options. We already knew the nonwovens industry because of our wetlaid operations in Europe, and we view airlaid as a good adjacent technology to our existing businesses.”
Beyond the acquired business, Glatfelter operates a diverse specialty papers business that includes, among other things, a sizeable wetlaid nonwovens business in Germany, France and the U.K. Core applications for this business, which was valued between $100-150 million last year include tabletop applications and surgical masks.
During the past several years, Concert—under the ownership of Brookfield Asset Management—had successfully embarked upon a turnaround program that not only relieved it of the financial burdens that led to a bankruptcy filing in 2004 but also well positioned it for the future. Today, the core business ofthe Fal­kenhagen, Germany and Gatineau, Canada facilities is in the feminine hygiene market but both sites are also growing in many other areas such as adult incontinence, food pad, tabletop and wipes. Much of the output is already contracted through 2013 and some 80% of current revenue is attached to raw material price pass-throughs, which allows the company to raise and lower prices depending on its supplier base.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, Concert began ramping up a third state-of-the-art European airlaid line, representing a $70 million investment in Falkenhagen, Germany. The new line added 18,000 tons to the company’s global capacity and now brings Glatfelter’s total airlaid output to 84,000 tons.
“We have studied the nonwovens market for decades and we are well aware of airlaid’s past challenges but we are now seeing a better balance between supply and demand,” Mr. Parrini said.
By adding the strength of Concert’s airlaid business to Glatfelter’s existing knowledge in specialty papers and other technologies, the company is hoping to capitalize on synergies across all of its business units, which in addition to advanced airlaid include composite fibers and specialty papers.
“We are identifying programs and projects all the time but even our customers are looking at our synergies and coming up with their own ideas. Already we are having a lot of success in branding the businesses and presenting it as Glatfelter,” said Lionel Bitton, general sales manager for Glatfelter Advanced Airlaid Business unit in the Americas.

York, PA
www.glatfelter.com
2011 Nonwovens Sales: $538 million

Key Personnel: Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO; John Jacunski, senior vice president and CFO; Christopher Astley, vice president, corporate strategy; Jonathan Bourget, vice president and general manager, Advanced Airlaid Materials; Martin Rapp, vice president and general manager, Composite Fibres

Plants: Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Philippines

Processes: Airlaid, wetlaid

With the integration of Concert Industries completed, Glatfelter has seen strong growth, despite a turbulent economic environment, thanks in part to increased volumes in the feminine hygiene market, which is the company’s core business.

As some other airlaid companies have faltered, closing plants or teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Glatfelter has seen volumes increase 18% from 2009-2010 and 7.5% from 2010-2011. Profitability has almost doubled from 2010 to 2011, and results in the first half of 2012 are again 55% higher than those in the first half of 2011.

Jonathan Bourget, vice president and general manager, Advanced Airlaid Materials, notes that the company mostly operates in the mature markets of North America and Europe, which have only been growing about 2%. “We’ve been very fortunate to be able to grow faster than the market within a weak economic environment. This is testimony to the trust our customers have put into us.”

The company reported $252 million in airlaid sales for 2011, about 82% coming from feminine hygiene. “That’s been growing pretty healthfully, thanks to private label growth, particularly in North America,” says Bourget. “Private label in general, including Europe, has some very good traction to it nowadays. I think there is recognition from the private label industry that there’s no better way to imitate the leaders than to use the same raw materials. So they come to us and we try to find solutions for them.”

Like most companies in the nonwovens industry, Glatfelter has an eye on emerging nations, which offer great potential for future consumption. Bourget noted that usage rates of feminine hygiene products in North America and Western Europe are about 170 grams per capita, while just 70 grams per capita in the Asia-Pacific region. “There’s just a massive opportunity for penetration in this market,” he says, adding that some major players in the industry have launched educational campaigns to promote awareness among developing nations.

Meanwhile, Glatfelter has increased its exposure to the wipes market in North America. The company offers an array of basis weights along with a broad manufacturer competency within different segments.

In addition to feminine hygiene and wipes for the personal care industry, other important airlaid markets for Glatfelter include home care, food pads and adult incontinence.

As for the company’s composite fibers business (wetlaid), Glatfelter reported $476 million in sales in 2011. The company has continued to build on its market leading position in single-serve coffee and tea products, growing shipping volumes by 9%. The business segment’s profitability has been increasing significantly (20% over the previous year).

Alongside food and beverage (60% of wetlaid sales), other important markets include metallized (20%), composite laminates (11%) and technical specialties (9%).

Bourget notes that Glatfelter’s goal is to continue growing these two divisions, expanding geographical and market presence over the foreseeable future and capitalizing on the strong relationships that exist with global market makers.
York, PA
www.glatfelter.com
2012 Nonwovens Sales: $683 million
 
Key Personnel:Dante C. Parrini, chairman and CEO; John P. Jacunski, senior vice president and CFO; Christopher W. Astley, vice president, corporate strategy; Jonathan A. Bourget, vice president and general manager, advanced airlaid materials; Martin Rapp, vice president and general manager, composite fibers
 
Plants: Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Philippines
 
Processes:Airlaid, Wetlaid
 
The acquisition of a major manufacturer of wallcovering materials is proof that Glatfelter continues to focus on growth markets. In March, the maker of airlaid and wetlaid nonwovens sealed a deal to acquire Dresden Papier, a leading producer of nonwoven wallpaper base materials and a supplier to most of the world’s largest wallpaper manufacturers. Previously owned by Fortress Paper, a Vancouver, B.C., Canada company, Dresden is based in Heidenau, Germany, near Dresden, where it operates a state-of-the-art, 60,000 metric ton operating facility solely dedicated to the wallcovering market.
 
At the time of the reported €160 million ($210 million) acquisition CEO Dante Parrini described the acquisition as a continuation of Glatfelter’s focus on adding industry leading nonwoven product lines to its composite fi bers business. The nonwoven based wall covering market is projected to grow 10% per year in coming years, outpacing demand for traditional paper products.
 
“We see a lot of growth potential for the wallpaper market, particularly in areas like China and South Korea,” says Martin Rapp, vice president and general manager of composite fibers.
 
Dresden Papier, soon to be rebranded into Glatfelter Dresden GmbH, is now a part of Glatfelter’s composite fibers business, which has been earmarked as a strong growth area for the company as it lessens its reliance on specialty papers.
 
Since 2006, Composite Fibers, along with the company’s Advanced Airlaid materials business, which was acquired from Concert Industries in 2010, have grown to represent 43% of the group’s sales compared to 30%. Specialty papers meanwhile, which once comprised 70% of sales, now account for 57% of Glatfelter’s business. This shift comes as a result of the company’s strategy of exposing itself to growth businesses, according to Parrini.
 
In 2012, Glatfelter continued to improve its position on both sides of its nonwovens business—composite fibers containing its wetlaid assets and advanced airlaid. Wetlaid sales grew 4-5% largely in technical and industrial applications such as wipes, furniture and tea bags while airlaid volumes increased 7%, largely driven by advances in feminine hygiene and wipes.
 
According to Jonathan Bourget, vice president and general manager of advanced airlaid materials, Glatfelter’s airlaid operations, including operations in Canada and Germany, continue to see their supply tighten, leading the company to begin investigating smart ways to increase its global output.
 
“Strength in airlaid is being driven by downgauging, relying on less material usage in terms of basis weight and the simultaneous increase of square meter volume,” says Bourget.
 
Also driving growth is the need for market development largely in the personal care segment. “These markets are large enough and rich enough that they are constantly looking at new products,” says Bourget. “I think there is a shift in consumer taste that is promoting new product development in airlaid.” 
 
Glatfelter entered the airlaid business through the acquisition of Concert in 2010 as part of a strategy, begun in the early 2000s, to transform itself from a traditional paper company into a global provider of engineered materials and specialty paper-related products.
 
While the airlaid business has been in the headlines Glatfelter’s wetlaid operations also continue to grow. The considerable boost from the Dresden acquisition should add about $150 million in sales and $38 million in earnings to the operation.
 
Apart from wallcoverings the composite fibers business unit is developing rapidly in the electrical segment. Last year the company made a significant investment into a dedicated machine in France. In addition Glatfelter is partnering with DreamWeaver to make a new generation of high performance affordable separators targeted for energy storage devices such as lithium-ion batteries. This partnership will allow DreamWeaver to leverage Glatfelter’s state-of-the art inclined wire capabilities and expertise in making advanced fiber-based engineered materials.
 
Glatfelter continues to optimize the use of its eight inclined-wire machines to produce a diverse range of products including, nonwoven energy storage materials for the capacitor and lead-acid battery markets. These new fi ber-based materials possess superior porosity and excellent web uniformity in low basis weight and thickness.
 
“DreamWeaver’s technology is a natural fit, allowing us to extend our presence in the growing energy storage market with innovative and proprietary technology,” says Rapp.
Glatfelter
York, PA
www.glatfelter.com
2014 Nonwovens Sales: $731 million

Key Personnel

Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO; John Jacunski, executive vice president and CFO; Christopher Astley, senior vice president & business unit president, Advanced Airlaid Materials; Martin Rapp, senior vice president & business unit president, Composite Fibers 

Plants
Canada, Germany, France, UK, Philippines 

Processes
Airlaid, wetlaid

Glatfelter continues to make progress in both increasing earnings and marketshare within its engineered fibers-based businesses. The company manufactures wetlaid nonwovens for food and beverage and wall covering applications through its Composite Fibers business unit (CFBU) and airlaid nonwovens for the feminine hygiene, adult incontinence and specialty wipes through its Advanced Airlaid Materials business unit (AMBU). Last year, total nonwovens sales were about $731 million.

Glatfelter’s Advanced Airlaid Materials business unit reported its best year since being acquired from Concert Industries in 2010 and has steadily improved its performance. Last year’s sales were $281.7 million, an increase of 5% over 2013 thanks to demand for airlaid in the adult hygiene and specialty wipes market, particularly in North America. Meanwhile its profits increased 18% during the same period.

According to the company, the majority of airlaid sales, 77%, are done within the feminine hygiene market to a handful of customers, but in 2014 adult incontinence sales charted the most growth, from $5 million to $17 million thanks to the successes of a major customer.

In 2015, Glatfelter plans to introduce a product specifically for the adult care market, and executives said that hygiene markets in general continue to be the best match for Glatfetler’s airlaid technology.

“Our Advanced Airlaid Materials business will continue to focus on new product development and innovation to support our existing core hygiene markets, as well as penetration of adjacent markets,” says Christopher Astley, senior vice president & business unit president, Advanced Airlaid Materials. “This will complement our continued efforts to support more efficient and effective production and delivery of our products to customers.  Given its unique functional qualities as well as its use of highly sustainable and biodegradable cellulose fibers, we expect the application of airlaid to continue to grow in both developing and emerging regions of the world.”

Glatfelter operates five airlaid lines in Germany and Canada, which together make about 100,000 tons of materials of nonwovens per year. While the market has repeatedly been described as tight, so far Glatfelter has made no plans to add another line and is instead focusing on optimizing its current production levels to increase volumes.

“As one of Glatfelter’s platforms for growth, Advanced Airlaid Materials continues to evaluate both organic and inorganic growth opportunities in the marketplace,”  Astley says.

One significant opportunity is in core materials. Last year, Glatfelter began promoting  its eCore engineered core and Icore integrated core materials within the hygiene market. Both are pulp-based airlaid substrates that contain as high as 85% superabsorbent polymer (SAP) and create an end product that is significantly thinner and more discrete than existing diapers and other absorbent devices while reducing costs associated with SAP spillage.

The product offers a much more efficient use of powders. It reduces usage of SAP by as much as 20% due to reduced spillage, uniform distribution of powder and improved free-swell. “Innovation continues to be a key capability of our Advanced Airlaid Materials business and we continue to develop and refine material platforms that will be useful to our customers and their markets,” Astley says. “Both our eCore and iCore platforms are aimed to support the global hygiene markets as customers seek to differentiate themselves in the broader marketplace.”

With lines in North America and Europe, Glatfelter has recently taken some steps to broaden its reach in Asia where hygiene growth, estimated between 7-12% depending on the subregion, is outpacing more developed regions. Glatfelter has opened a full-fledged sales and representative office in China, where it currently has several employees assessing the market and developing relationships with customers in the region. So far no plan for a manufacturing investment in this region has been announced.

“As we consider opportunities for growth, Advanced Airlaid Materials continues to evaluate a number of emerging markets, including Asia,” Astley says. “As disposable income and consumer education increase, we expect broader growth in emerging markets will continue. Contemplating growth in emerging markets will be balanced with the opportunities we believe still exist in the more developed markets of the world.”

Turning toward Composite Fibers, this business unit makes wetlaid nonwovens for applications in the food and beverage market as well as the wall covering market. In 2014, sales decreased slightly in food and beverage but increased sharply in wall coverings, a market Glatfelter entered in 2013 through the acquisition of Dresden Papier, a leading producer of nonwoven wallpaper-based materials. Based in Heidenau, Germany, this business operates a state-of-the-art 60,000 metric ton operating facility solely dedicated to wall coverings. In 2014, wall covering sales contributed nearly $150 million to Glatfelter’s total revenues.

Acquisitions like the airlaid business and Dresden Papier are in sync with Glatfelter’s strategy of exposing itself to grow businesses and boost its share of its engineered and fiber-based businesses, which now represent about half of sales. The next leg in this strategy will reportedly be expansion into the dispersible wipes market. The company is reportedly investing $4 million in developing a substrate to target this market through its Composite Fibers business.
York, PA
www.glatfelter.com
2015 Nonwovens Sales: $589 million


Key Personnel
Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO; John Jacunski, executive vice president and CFO; Christopher Astley, senior vice president & business unit president, Advanced Airlaid Materials; Martin Rapp, senior vice president & business unit president, Composite Fibers

Plants
Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Philippines

Processes
Airlaid, wetlaid


The big news from airlaid specialist Glatfelter is the company’s decision to build a new airlaid line in the U.S. The York, PA-based company announced in December 2015 it would invest  $80 million in a new production facility for its Advanced Airlaid Materials business (AMBU). In March, the company revealed it would be built in Fort Smith, AK.

“Our Advanced Airlaid Materials business is a global growth platform that has a unique opportunity to capitalize on increasing and unmet demand in North America for the materials used in lighter-weight hygiene and disposable wipes products,” says Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO. “Our plan to build this new facility is in direct response to customer needs for increased capacity in a tightening North American airlaid market.”

The new facility, which is currently under construction, is expected to have an annual capacity of approximately 22,000 short tons, which will increase the company’s total global airlaid materials capacity to 129,000 short tons. The investment, which was only finalized after a customer committed to purchase a significant amount of the capacity, will establish a specialty asset base in the U.S. and create a center of excellence for other lighter basis weight products. It will be complete in early 2018.

“We are planning to locate this facility in close proximity to several key customers and highly efficient transportation routes in the southern U.S., as well as where we have additional access to a high-quality, skilled workforce,” says Chris Astley, senior vice president and business unit president, Advanced Airlaid Materials.

The new line will be housed in a former Mitsubishi Power Systems building in Fort Smith, where Glatfelter will create up to 83 highly skilled manufacturing jobs.

Glatfelter’s new Fort Smith facility will supply products to a variety of customers, including those who support the broader wipes and hygiene markets.

“We are truly excited to partner with the people of Fort Smith and Arkansas because we know that investing here makes great business sense for our company,” Astley says. “Locating here benefits our business in a number of ways.  It will enable us to expand our capacity to meet our customers’ growing demand for our advanced airlaid products, provide us with closer proximity to key suppliers and customers and link us to highly efficient transportation routes across the South.  Equally important, it will allow us to tap into the area’s high quality workforce.”

In addition to the new Fort Smith facility, Glatfelter has 12 production facilities located across the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, the U.K., and the Philippines. The company, headquartered in York, PA, employs more than 4300 people worldwide. 

Glatfelter’s most recent airlaid investment was a new line in Falkenhagen, Germany in 2010. In addition to the Falkenhagen site, which now contains three airlaid lines, Glatfelter has two airlaid lines in Quebec, Canada. Together these five lines make about 100,000 tons of nonwovens per year.

In 2015, airlaid sales decreased from $281 million to $244 million due to currency fluctuations. The feminine hygiene markets accounted for the majority, 74% of sales, and customers include a few large, leading consumer products companies. The airlaid wipes market, while a smaller business for Glatfelter, is growing steadily, increasing from $16 to $23 million between 2014 and 2015 and the new airlaid line will continue to boost sales in this category. Other key markets include adult incontinence and home care.

Glatfelter’s Composite Fibers business, which contains wetlaid nonwovens production, for the food and beverage wallcoverings and other specialty markets, also was impacted by currency fluctuations, decreasing in U.S. dollar terms from $617 million to $541 million. 

The largest market within this business, representing about $274 million in sales is food and beverage, which primarily serves the single serve coffee and tea market. Another important business is wallcoverings, a business that was acquired from Dresden Papier inn 2013. While wallcoverings remains an important area for Glatfelter, sales in this segment have been adversely affected by socioeconomic conditions in Russia and the Ukraine, since the beginning of 2015.

In addition to its Advanced Airlaid and Composite Fibers business, Glatfelter operates a third, larger business segment Specialty Papers, which does not include any nonwovens operations. In 2015, sales of this segment were $875 million, representing about half of corporate sales. This segment has not been growing as rapidly as the other two units, largely due to Glatfelter’s strategy of increasing its exposure to engineered and fiber based businesses like nonwovens.
York, PA
www.glatfelter.com
2016 Nonwovens Sales: $589 million


Key Personnel
Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO; John Jacunski, executive vice president and CFO; Christopher Astley, senior vice president & business unit president, Advanced Airlaid Materials; Martin Rapp, senior vice president & business unit president, Composite Fibers

Plants
Canada, Germany, France, UK, Philippines

Processes
Airlaid, wetlaid

As it waits for its new North American airlaid line to come onstream, Glatfelter continues to increase its volumes thanks to improvements on its existing lines. In 2016, the company’s Advanced Airlaid Materials business achieved record volumes thanks to increases out of its Gatineau, Quebec, facility, which holds two side-by-side airlaid lines. Airlaid sales represented 15.2%, or $244 million, of Glatfelter’s total sales.

Other bright spots of the business included 12% growth in the company’s wipes business thanks to a new specialty wipes business, which will likely be a key target market for Glatfelter’s new airlaid line, which is set to come onstream in Fort Mill, AR, later this year. Glatfelter announced in December 2015 it would invest  $80 million in the new facility which will meet unmet demand in North America for materials used in lighter weight hygiene and disposable wipes products, according to Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO.

“Our plan to build this new facility is in direct response to customer needs for increased capacity in a tightening North American airlaid market,” he adds.

The new facility will have an annual capacity of approximately 22,000 short tons, which will increase the company’s total global airlaid materials capacity to approximately 129,000 short tons. The investment, which was only finalized after a customer committed to purchasing a significant amount of the capacity, will establish a specialty asset base in the U.S. and create a center of excellence for other lighter basis weight products. It will be complete in early 2018. It will be located in close proximity to several key customers and highly efficient transportation routes in the southern U.S., as well as where it will have additional access to a high-quality, skilled workforce.

In addition to the new Fort Smith facility, Glatfelter has airlaid operations in Canada and Germany as well as other facilities in the U.S., France, the U.K. and the Philippines. The company, headquartered in York, PA, employs more than 4300 people worldwide. 

Glatfelter’s most recent airlaid investment was a new line in Falkenhagen, Germany, in 2010. Its current airlaid capacity is approximately 100,000 tons of nonwovens per year.

Even though airlaid sales reached record volumes, in dollar terms they decreased from $281 million to $244 million due to currency fluctuations. The feminine hygiene market accounted for the majority, 71% of sales, and customers include a few large, leading consumer products companies. Other key markets include wipes, adult incontinence and home care.

In addition to airlaid, Glatfelter makes wetlaid nonwovens for markets including food and beverage and wall coverings. These businesses are contained within the company’s Composite Fibers business, where nonwovens-related sales were about $350 million last year. 

The largest market within this business, representing about $258 million in sales, is food and beverage, which primarily serves the single serve coffee and tea market. This year, Glatfelter was named “Supplier of the Year” by Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. (Keurig), a leader in specialty coffee and innovative single serve brewing systems. The award recognizes both Glatfelter’s high performance and its demonstrated commitment to Keurig’s values. 

Paul Iaderosa, Keurig’s senior vice president, Procurement, says, “Being named Keurig’s Supplier of the Year is a significant achievement and a recognition that Glatfelter continues to go above and beyond expectations.  In 2016, Glatfelter displayed superior responsiveness to our evolving business needs, leading to improvement of the materials it provides and optimization of our supply chain.”

“At Glatfelter, we are focused on the innovation, quality and service we bring to each of our products and customers around the world, every single day,” Parrini says. “We are committed to fulfilling our vision of becoming the global supplier of choice in specialty papers and engineered materials.”

Another important business within the Composite Fibers business is wall coverings, a business that was acquired from Dresden Papier in 2013. Sales of wall coverings have begun to rebound in late 2016 and 2017 thanks to better socioeconomic conditions in Russia and the Ukraine as well as the closure of a major competitor in Europe.

Earlier this year, the Dresden facility in Heidenau, Germany, was recognized for service excellence, consistent high quality, and long-term cooperation by Russia’s largest wall cover producer, KOF Palitra. Glatfelter was presented this award during Palitra’s 15-year anniversary reception held last month in Moscow, Russia. The award recognizes the premium quality, efficient convertibility, and overall consistency of Glatfelter’s nonwoven wall cover substrates.
York, PA
www.glatfelter.com
2017 Nonwovens Sales: $627 million


Key Personnel
Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO; John Jacunski, executive vice president and CFO; Christopher Astley, senior vice president and business unit president, Advanced Airlaid Materials; Martin Rapp, senior vice president & business unit president, composite fibers

Plants
Canada, Germany, U.S., France, Philippines

Processes
Airlaid, wetlaid


A new plant and a major acquisition are the big news stories at Glatfelter, the world’s largest airlaid producer and a manufacturer of wetlaid nonwovens for the single-serve tea and coffee market and wall coverings applications.  The company’s total nonwovens sales clocked in at $627 million but are expected to grow thanks to the commercialization of its new North American airlaid line in Fort Smith, AR, and the acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s European airlaid business.

In June, the company announced it would purchase G-P’s operations in Steinfurt, Germany, as well as its sales offices in France and Italy for $185 million, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. The Steinfurt facility produces high-quality airlaid products for the table-top, wipes, hygiene, food pad, and other nonwoven materials markets, competing in the marketplace with nonwoven technologies and substrates, as well as other materials focused primarily on consumer based end-use applications. The Steinfurt facility is a state-of-the-art, 32,000-metric-ton-capacity manufacturing facility that employs approximately 220 people.

“Glatfelter’s agreement to acquire the European nonwovens business demonstrates our commitment to building leading positions in global growth markets for engineered materials,” says Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO of Glatfelter. “Steinfurt’s products and technologies complement our current airlaid business very well and the acquisition provides synergistic capacity increase opportunities and an improved cost structure to support our ability to serve customers in growing consumer and industrial markets. From a financial perspective, the investment provides an attractive return on capital, is immediately accretive and will deliver attractive EBITDA margins in a growing market.”

In 2017, the business generated net sales of $99 million and EBITDA of $18 million. The company expects to realize synergies in excess of approximately $6 million per year within three years, and expects to incur one-time costs of approximately $7 million for transaction fees and integration.

Glatfelter announced the acquisition in June 2018, just eight days after the Grand Opening Ceremony for its state-of-the-art airlaid facility in Arkansas, which began operations during the first quarter of 2018.

The site is the company’s first investment in the U.S. Existing facilities are located in Gatineau, Canada, and Falkenhagen, Germany.  The additional 22,000 short tons of production capacity made at the site increases the company’s total global airlaid materials capacity to approximately 129,000 short tons, not including the G-P acquisition, making Glatfelter the largest producer of airlaid materials in the world.

Glatfelter’s airlaid materials are found in a wide range of personal care products, including feminine hygiene and adult incontinence products, specialty wipes, tabletop, and homecare applications. The Fort Smith facility primarily supplies material to the specialty wipes market.

“We are excited to bring this new capacity and capabilities to our customers serving the growing North American market,” says Parrini. 

In 2017, Glatfelter’s airlaid sales reached $256 million, 70% of which were sold to customers in the feminine hygiene market. Other important markets for the company include specialty wipes and adult incontinence, which both reported sales growth of 14% this year.

Outside of airlaid, Glatfelter makes wetlaid nonwovens for markets like the single serve tea and coffee and wallcoverings, which are a part of its Composites Fibers business. Sales decreased slightly in food and beverage but were up significantly in wallcoverings. Looking ahead the company plans to continue to capitalize on both of these markets, which are considered to be growing globally by making targeted investments to create incremental capacity to serve growth markets and leveraging innovation resources to drive new product and new business development. 

In addition to Advanced Airlaid and Composite Fibers, Glatfelter operates a third division Specialty Papers. The largest of its three divisions, representing about 50% of sales, specialty papers serves many market segments served by declining demand resulting in excess capacity, lower operating rates and pricing pressures. In August, Glatfelter announced plans to sell this division to private equity firm Lindsay Graham. The company had previously announced, in February 2018, that it would undertake a review of strategic alternatives for specialty papers including the potential sale of the unit.

Parrini says, “Our Specialty Papers business continued to face challenging market conditions which, when coupled with operating inefficiencies, led to lower profitability during the quarter.  We are encouraged by recent announcements of price increases and additional industry capacity being taken out of the market which should be constructive for the business going forward.  Our focus remains on aggressively pursuing cost efficiencies and process improvements to improve profitability.”
York, PA
www.glatfelter.com
2018 Nonwovens Sales: $693 million


Key Personnel
Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO; Christopher Astley, senior vice president and CCO

Plants
Canada, Germany, U.S., France, Philippines

Major Markets
Feminine hygiene, wipes, tabletop, adult incontinence, food and beverage, wall coverings

Processes
Airlaid, wetlaid


Three major events occurred in 2018 that will influence sales at Glatfelter for years to come. For one, the company completed work on its 20,000-ton airlaid line in Fort Smith, AK; for another the company purchased competitor Georgia-Pacific’s European airlaid operation and finally, the sale of its Specialty Papers business unit, which has not impacted nonwovens sales but will open up new opportunities for the company in fast-growing markets like nonwovens.

The first major North American airlaid investment in nearly two decades, Glatfelter’s new facility in Fort Smith represents a $90 million investment for the company. Completed in the first quarter of 2018, the line is mainly serving the specialty wipes markets.

The site added 22,000 short tons of production capacity to Glatfelter’s global capacity bringing it to 129,000 tons, not including the Georgia-Pacific purchase.

At the official grand opening celebration for the new line, chairman and CEO Dante Parrini said, “We are excited to bring this new capacity and capabilities to our customers serving the growing North American market.”

Also in its airlaid business, Glatfelter announced in June 2018 it would acquire  Georgia-Pacific’s European operation in Steinfurt, Germany. The 32,000 ton-operation achieves sales of just under $100 million per year and Glatfelter purchased it for $181 million. It makes high quality airlaid products for the tabletop, wipes, hygiene, food pad and other end use markets.

“Glatfelter’s agreement to acquire the European nonwovens business demonstrates our commitment to building leading positions in global growth markets for engineered materials,” says Parrini. “Steinfurt’s products and technologies complement our current airlaid business very well and the acquisition provides synergistic capacity increase opportunities and an improved cost structure to support our ability to serve customers in growing consumer and industrial markets. From a financial perspective, the investment provides an attractive return on capital, is immediately accretive and will deliver attractive EBITDA margins in a growing market.”

In 2018, airlaid sales increased from $256 million to $311 million thanks to the contribution of the new line in Arkansas. The most significant growth was in the specialty wipes market, which is a key focus of the new line, where sales grew from $29 million to $45.5 million as well as tabletop where sales increased from $6.7 million to $21 million. In fact, growth occurred across all of Glatfelter’s airlaid categories, which also include feminine hygiene, adult incontinence and home care. Looking ahead, executives expect to see 8-10% organic volume growth in coming years thanks to the contribution of the Fort Smith site, the Steinfurt acquisition and the unique value these products offer to consumers.

The purchase of G-P’s European assets was partially funded by the third major event of 2018—Glatfelter’s divestment of its Specialty Papers business to the Lindsay Goldberg private equity firm for about $320 million. Glatfelter announced the sale in August after saying in February it was undertaking a review of strategic alternatives for the Specialty Papers business, which was formerly its largest division.
Glatfelter’s third business unit, Specialty Papers, in part contains its wetlaid nonwovens operation, which largely targets market like single serve tea and coffee and wall coverings.

In 2018, sales to the food and beverage markets increased from $268 million to $279 million while its wall coverings sales remained flat at $103 million. In 2019, this segment is expected to grow about 3% in volume terms in line with market demand which is driven by demand for single-serve coffee, tea wipes and electrical products. Glatfelter will continue to manage risks associated with the all coverings market and high input costs.
Charlotte, NC
www.glatfelter.com
2019 Nonwovens Sales: $930 million


Key Personnel
Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO; Chris Astley, senior vice president and CCO; Sam Hillard, senior vice president and CFO

Plants
Canada, U.S., Germany, U.K., France, Philippines

Major Markets
Feminine hygiene, wipes, tabletop, adult incontinence, home care, food and beverage, building and industrial

Processes
Airlaid, wetlaid

Airlaid sales increased significantly in 2019 from $311 million to $406 million thanks to Glatfelter’s acquisition of an operation in Steinfurt, Germany, as well as a new facility in Fort Smith, AR. Growth was seen across all of the company’s key areas for airlaid including feminine hygiene, specialty wipes, tabletop, adult incontinence and home care.

While feminine hygiene continues to represent the division’s largest segment, its share dropped from 63% to 51% in 2019 reflecting continued diversification and the company’s growth in markets like wipes and tabletop products thanks to the Steinfurt acquisition and additional capacity in Arkansas.

The Fort Smith site, capable of making 22,000 short tons of material per year, came onstream in mid-2018 representing a $90 million investment. The new line has helped Glatfelter meet growing demand for wipes and sustainable substrates. “The current pandemic has increased consumers’ hygiene awareness which is reflected in the current markets,” says Chris Astley, chief commercial officer. “The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Fort Smith continues to be an essential component in Glatfelter’s global growth strategy.”

This facility primarily supplies material to the specialty wipes market which has helped Glatfelter meet the growing needs for light-weight substrates among customers in the North American market.

Meanwhile, Glatfelter’s latest European investment, an airlaid line in Steinfurt, Germany, was purchased from Georgia-Pacific in October 2018 for $185 million and adds approximately 32,000 metric tons to the company’s global output.

“With the addition of the Steinfurt site we acquired increased airlaid capabilities in Europe, which has enabled the optimization of our product portfolio and increased efficiency of our manufacturing assets,” he says. “Also, planning processes have been optimized, allowing us to effectively reallocate manufacturing capacity for faster response to customer demands.”

According to Astley, company research shows that demand for airlaid materials will remain strong given the increased use of personal hygiene products and strong demand for wipes. “We also remain committed to innovation by exploring new and expanded opportunities across all of our product segments.”

As customers continue to seek sustainable solutions, Glatfelter will continue its commitment to innovation and environmental responsibility to create products that give it a competitive advantage in an increasingly environment aware marketplace. “Our solutions help customers achieve their sustainability goals and demonstrate their environmental commitments to their customers,” he adds.

Glatfelter also operates a wetlaid nonwovens business that generated sales of $522 million in 2019. Glatfelter holds leadership positions in several of the product areas in which it plays, and believes many of the markets served with wetlaid technology present attractive growth opportunities.
Charlotte, NC
www.glatfelter.com
2020 Nonwovens Sales: $916 million


Key Personnel:
Dante Parrini, chairman and CEO; Chris Astley, senior vice president and CCO; Sam L. Hillard, senior vice president and CFO

Facilities:
North/South America Facilities—Charlotte, NC; York, PA; Fort Smith, AR; Gatineau, QC; Mount Holly, NC; Gainesville, GA; San José, San Rafael, Costa Rica
Europe Facilities—Zug, Switzerland; Caerphilly, United Kingdom; Heidenau, Germany; Pritzwalk, Germany; Gernsbach, Germany; Lydney, United Kingdom; Nidda, Germany; Scaër, France; Steinfurt, Germany; Milano, Italy
Asia Facilities—Moscow, Russia; Suzhou, China; Lanoa del Norte, Philippines

Major Markets
Feminine hygiene, wipes, tabletop, adult incontinence, home care, food and beverage, building and industrial

Investment continues at Glatfelter Corp. The Charlotte, NC, manufacturer of airlaid and wetlaid nonwovens will significantly increase its exposure to the spunlace and wipes markets through the planned acquisition of Jacob Holm Industries, a deal announced in July 2021, for $308 million.

The acquisition of the Swiss nonwovens producer will include sites in North Carolina, Tennessee, France and Spain which manufacture high performing and innovative spunlace and advanced fiber-based sustainable solutions for the growing wipes, healthcare and hygiene categories. Jacob Holm’s global nonwovens sales are approximately $400 million per year and this has the potential for growth as the company completes a global investment program that is expected to add 500 million square meters to its annual nonwovens output.

“Today’s announcement represents another significant step forward in Glatfelter’s transformation. The combination of Jacob Holm’s quality spunlace and advanced fiber products along with Glatfelter’s industry-leading airlaid and composite fibers products will provide a best-in-class suite of nonwovens technologies, applications, and expertise to serve customers’ growing global demand. By acquiring Jacob Holm, we will further diversify our nonwovens and substrate offerings and enhance our overall innovation capabilities,” says Dante C. Parrini, chairman and CEO.

This acquisition follows Glatfelter’s purchase of Georgia-Pacific’s U.S. airlaid operations in May 2021 for $175 million. This deal included a large-scale airlaid manufacturing operation in Mount Holly, NC, as well as a nonwovens research and development center in Memphis, TN. The Mount Holly facility has a capacity of 37,000 metric tons and produces high-quality airlaid products focused on wipes and tabletop materials. G-P acquired the site through its purchase of Buckeye Technologies. This business generated approximately $100 million of sales and $20 million in EBITDA in 2020.

Glatfelter also purchased G-P’s European operation, an airlaid line in Steinfurt, Germany, in October 2018 for $185 million. This line added approximately 32,000 metric tons to the company’s global output.

Glatfelter’s latest organic capital investment was a new line capable of making 20,000 tons airlaid nonwovens in Fort Smith, AR, which came onstream in mid-2018, representing a $90 million investment. The new line has helped Glatfelter meet growing demand for wipes and sustainable substrates. Glatfelter’s state-of-the-art airlaid facility in Fort Smith expanded its airlaid capacity by 20%.
In 2020, Glatfelter’s airlaid business achieved record sales of $392 million despite a slowdown in the tabletop business brought on by restaurant closures amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. Feminine hygiene comprised the most of the airlaid segment’s sales, representing 52%. This market saw heightened demand in 2020 as consumers stockpiled necessity items.

Although everyone expected that there would be another increase in sales at the beginning of the second lockdown wave, there was not. This caused Glatfelter’s customers to have high inventory levels. Glatfelter has seen an increase in demand now that things have reopened and believe this trend will continue to rise as people become more comfortable stepping back into society.

To meet the demands of their customer, Glatfelter has manufactured the thickest and most absorbent wipe substrates on the market while remaining eco-friendly. The company is also committed to operating responsibly by using primarily plant-based raw materials from certified suppliers, reducing their energy and water consumption, and developing wipes substrates that do not contain chemically regenerated or fossil fuel based components. A need for this quality of wipes has increased throughout the years due to convenience and versatility.

Glatfelter’s airlaid materials can offer a sustainable alternative in disposable products because they use cellulosic wood pulp as the majority component (more than 70%). The balance is a combination of binder dispersions and fibers. Glatfelter is working on replacing the oil-based binders and fibers with plant-based materials and commercializing 100% plant-based airlaid products for wipes, tabletop, food pads and absorbent hygiene applications.

Glatfelter is devoted to operating as a responsible steward of the environment and creating a more sustainable world for future generations. This pledge is stated through their Core Value of Environmental Responsibility and their company-wide environmental policy.

The focus on sustainability also extends to Glatfelter’s composite fibers segment which includes wetlaid nonwovens targeted at applications including wall coverings and beverage filters. Sales in the composite fibers business were approximately $525 million in 2020. This segment showed continuous improvement, operational excellence and strong productivity.

The company’s Dynagreen portfolio offers the most sustainable options for tea and coffee filter applications in the market and is the best-in-class and first heat-sealable filter paper in its category. These heat-sealable filters are made of cellulose fibers and a natural plant-based polymer.

In industrial applications, Glatfelter successfully developed more efficient solutions for batteries and capacitors.

Glatfelter continues its journey of enhancing everyday life with engineered materials that are rooted in nature and engineered to perfection.
Charlotte, NC
www.glatfelter.com
2021 Nonwovens Sales: $1.1 billion


Key Personnel
Thomas Fahnemann, chief executive officer; Ramesh Shettigar, senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer; Chris W. Astley, senior vice president and chief commercial officer; Wolfgang Laures, senior vice president, Integrated Global Supply Chain & IT

Plants
American Facilities - Charlotte, NC; Asheville, NC; Mount Holly, NC; Fort Smith, AR; Gainesville, GA; York, PA; Memphis, TN; Old Hickory, TN; Gatineau, QC; Buenos Aires, Argentina; San José, Costa Rica; Mexico City, Mexico
European Facilities - Scaër, France; Soultz, France; Dresden, Germany; Falkenhagen, Germany; Gernsbach, Germany; Ober-Schmitten, Germany; Steinfurt, Germany; Milan, Italy; Moscow, Russia; Asturias, Spain; Basel, Switzerland; Zug, Switzerland; Caerphilly, United Kingdom; Lydney, United Kingdom
Asia Pacific Facilities - Suzhou, China; Shanghai, China; Lanao del Norte, Philippines; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Major Applications/Segments
Personal care and hygiene products; food and beverage filtration, critical cleaning products, medical and personal protection, packaging products, as well as home improvement and industrial applications

In 2021, Glatfelter’s sales exceeded $1 billion, making the company one of the world’s key airlaid manufacturers, along with the manufacture of its wetlaid and spunlace substrates. The company increased market demand despite the effects from pandemic-driven inflation and global supply-chain disruptions. Throughout this time, Glatfelter kept its facilities running successfully and continuously fulfilled demand on behalf of its customers which produce some of the world’s most well-known essential consumer staples, according to senior vice president & chief commercial officer Chris Astley.

“We strove to mitigate the impact of these extraordinary global conditions as the company remained committed to its growth strategies,” he says. “This included undergoing a strategic transformation focused on becoming a leading engineered materials company by accelerating growth through acquisitions, organic growth, supply chain effectiveness, product innovation with a focus on sustainability, and brand awareness.”

In recent years the company has grown largely through major acquisitions. In early 2021, Glatfelter cemented its footprint as a producer of airlaid nonwovens through the $175 million acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s North American operations, including a large-scale airlaid line in Mount Holly, NC, and a research and development center in Memphis, TN. Glatfelter acquired G-P’s European operations, including an airlaid line in Steinfurt, Germany, in 2018 for $185 million.

The Georgia-Pacific transaction was followed by another sizable acquisition, Jacob Holm Industries, in October 2021 for approximately $300 million. The addition of Jacob Holm, which primarily makes spunlace nonwovens for wipes applications, expanded Glatfelter’s scale and diversification into high-performing and innovative spunlace nonwoven technologies. This includes the Sontara product portfolio, a globally renowned brand for high-end critical cleaning wipes, surgical drapes and gowns, wound care materials and facial masks. Sontara products deliver unique properties and are made using proprietary technology. Sontara uses no binders, chemicals or adhesives. It has exceptional mechanical strength and excellent absorbency and exhibits very low lint.

“The successful integrations of Mount Holly and Spunlace and realization of their synergies remain key imperatives for Glatfelter,” says Ramesh Shettigar senior vice president, chief finance officer & treasurer. “We are confident these new acquisitions will deliver long-term value to our customers and shareholders through portfolio diversification, technology expansion, accelerated innovation and enhanced scale. Despite the prevailing global challenges with inflation, supply chain constraints and pandemic-driven disruptions, we believe these acquisitions position Glatfelter favorably and bolster our leading position in the broader nonwovens sector.  As we continue our efforts to fully integrate these acquisitions, we are focused on building Glatfelter’s proven track record of operational excellence, cost optimization and strong cash flow generation.”

Glatfelter’s Airlaid Materials segment finished the 2021 year with a revenue of approximately $470 million. The global markets served by airlaid materials continue to have significant potential for growth. Glatfelter focused on maintaining and expanding relationships with customers that are market-leading consumer product companies, as well as companies converting and distributing through private label arrangements; capitalizing on its product and process innovation capabilities, including developing plastic-free technologies; expanding the geographic reach of markets served; optimizing the use of existing production capacity; and employing continuous improvement methodologies and initiatives to reduce costs, improve supply chain and create additional capacity.

Developing new applications for airlaid is also a priority for Glatfelter, which partnered with Blue Ocean Closures and ALPLA, to develop a cellulose-based airlaid bottle cap. Blue Ocean Closures is reportedly the first company to develop an innovative concept for fiber-based screw cap solutions that are fully biobased, ocean biodegradable and recyclable. This is achieved through excellence in material know-how and a cost-effective production concept using advanced, proprietary press forming.

“Combining the knowledge of fiber physics and airlaid technology, along with packaging and tool building, provided a means to manufacture cellulose-based screw caps with high form stability, excellent technical functionality, and a torque capability that the material could handle,” Astley says.

This partnership was awarded the IDEA22 Sustainability Advancement Award and is a finalist for the 2022 Packaging Europe Sustainability Award in the Recyclable Packaging (Pre-Commercialized) category for their innovative, sustainable, fiber-based screw caps. These awards were created to recognize companies that demonstrate excellence in innovation, sustainable product offerings, and outstanding contributions to the nonwovens and packaging markets.

Glatfelter’s Composite Fibers Business Segment reported annual net sales of approximately $560 million in 2021. This segment processes specialty long fibers, primarily from natural sources such as abaca and other materials, to create premium value-added products in the categories of food & beverage, wall cover, technical specialties, composite laminates, and metallized products. Many of the markets served by composite fibers present attractive growth opportunities due to evolving consumer preferences, new or emerging geographic markets and new product innovation, which enables superior products and quality.

For tea and coffee filter applications the newly developed Dynagreen product portfolio offers the most sustainable options in the market and is the first heat-sealable best-in-class filter paper in its category. These heat-sealable filters are made of compostable and biodegradable fibers such as abaca, cellulose and polylactic acid.

Glatfelter prioritizes the value of sustainability by focusing efforts on areas where products have the greatest local and global impact. By doing so, Glatfelter uses natural fibers to create products rooted in nature and engineered for performance.

For Glatfelter's 2020 top company profile, click here.
Charlotte, NC
www.glatfelter.com
2022 Nonwovens Sales: $1.5 billion


Key Personnel
Thomas Fahnemann, chief executive officer; Ramesh Shettigar, senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer; Boris Illetschko, chief operating officer

Locations:
American Facilities: Charlotte, NC; Asheville, NC; Mount Holly, NC; Fort Smith, AR; Gainesville, GA; York, PA; Memphis, TN; Old Hickory, TN; Gatineau, QC; Buenos Aires, Argentina; San José, Costa Rica; Mexico City, Mexico
European Facilities: Scaër, France; Soultz, France; Dresden, Germany; Falkenhagen, Germany; Gernsbach, Germany; Steinfurt, Germany; Milan, Italy; Moscow, Russia; Asturias, Spain; Basel, Switzerland; Zug, Switzerland; Caerphilly, U.K.; Lydney, U.K.
Asia Pacific Facilities: Suzhou, China; Shanghai, China; Lanao del Norte, Philippines; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Airlaid sales grew an impressive 27.9% in 2022 to reach $601.5 million at Glatfelter, one of the world leaders in the technology. With manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Canada and Germany, Glatfelter’s airlaid business has grown in recent years thanks to acquisitions, including Georgia-Pacific’s operations in North America and Germany, as well as a major line investment in Fort Smith, AR.

“Airlaid Materials continues to be a technology and product innovation leader in technically demanding segments of the markets it serves,” says COO Boris Illetschko. “Our airlaid material production employs multi-bonded, thermal-bonded and hydrogen-bonded airlaid technologies. We believe our facilities are among the most modem and flexible airlaid facilities in the world, allowing them to produce at industry-leading operating rates. Our proprietary single-lane festooning technology provides converting and product packaging capabilities that support efficiency in the customers’ converting processes.”

The feminine hygiene category accounted for 39.6% and 44% of airlaid material’s net sales in 2022 and 2021. Other markets include specialty wipes, adult incontinence items, home care and food pads. The company’s approach to innovation is to develop new products with enhanced sustainability profiles, through a greater reliance on plant-based materials that provide improved biodegradability and compostability, particularly in areas where the company can improve the sustainability profile of its customers’ products without compromising performance.

Recent developments in this area include GlatPure, a range of biobased and absorbent hygiene components derived from renewable materials like 100% plant-based renewable cellulose fibers and a range of organic binders.

Meanwhile, in new application areas, Glatfelter has partnered with Blue Ocean Closures to develop a cellulose-based airlaid bottle cap. Blue Ocean Closures is reportedly the first company to develop a concept for fiber-based screw cap solutions. This is achieved through excellence in material know-how and a cost-effective production concept using advanced, proprietary press forming.

Glatfelter aims to achieve a 95% fully plant-based offering of food and beverage and hygiene products by late 2023, achieved through customer collaboration.

Within Glatfelter’s spunlace business, a division established in late 2021 through the acquisition of Jacob Holm Industries, the company has developed Sontara EC Green, a 100% plant-based wipe made with Glatfelter’s proprietary Sontara technology. Sontara only requires water, not binders, adhesives or other chemicals, to form a strong and absorbent web.

Sontara EC Green offers an excellent alternative to non-biodegradable wipe materials, with exceptional strength and extremely low-lint cleaning properties while being environmentally responsible.

In the next few years, Glatfelter will make the most of its strengths to grow and expand its capabilities. The company’s strong business model will help improve cash flow, fine-tune pricing strategies, deal with rising energy costs and increase EBITDA growth in the spunlace segment. Glatfelter’s proven track record showcases its proficiency to upscale and facilitate organizational growth, both organically and inorganically.