Oerlkon is looking for the best value option to separate its Polymer Processing Solutions, business, including all of its filament and nonwovens processing technologies. The move is the final step in the company’s plan to become a pure-play leader in the broad surface solutions markets. The company began executing this strategy in 2014 and has since streamlined its group from five divsions to two—Polymer Processing Solutions and Broad Surface Solutions. The two remaining divisions both occupy sweet spots in their markets but limited synergies exist between the two.
Oerlikon will implement this step over the next 12-36 months as Polymer Processing Solutions’ filament cycle recovers. The group will look for a situation for Polymer Processing Solutions, where it can better leverage its distinct brands and leading technologies in its end markets, which are driven by long-term growth trends, such as population expansion and increasing demand for clothing and housing. The Polymer Processing Solutions division includes the Neumag and Barmag brands.
In 2023, Oerlikon reported that its Polymer Processing Solutions business faced challenges in the filament and non-filament markets. Order intake decreased by 40.1% and sales declined by 23.1%. The division’s results were driven by the cyclical downturn in filaments, as a result of the slowdown in consumption, production and investment in China. Furthermore, the division was impacted by weakness in the global nonwovens market and in the Oerlikon HRSflow market, the latter due to a transitorily decline in car launches.
Toward the end of 2023, the division noted an initial return in demand for carpet yarn (BCF) plants from the automotive and nylon industries and first signs of recovery for Oerlikon HRSflow solutions.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, the division discontinued its Teknoweb business and divested its intralogistics offering for large spinning mills (Oerlikon Barmag Automation) to Irico Gualchierani Handling S.r.l.