10.19.06
Daio Paper, in partnership with a Chinese company, began producing and selling sanitary napkins in China in July. The effort started with the production of 36 million pieces annually. The consumer population of sanitary napkins in Japan is estimated at 28.8 million and this figure is declining gradually. However, China’s population is estimated at 367 million. Despite this large market, several companies are already marketing sanitary napkins in China and competition among these, which include Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Kao and Unicharm, has already been described as cut-throat, according to Nonwovens Industry Far East correspondent Kin Ohmura.