Another year is coming to a close, and for the nonwovens industry it has been quite an active one. As the novel coronavirus spread across the world early this year, the nonwovens industry became busier than ever as demand for the materials that make disinfectant wipes, face masks and medical apparel skyrocketed. This demand led to an extraordinary level of investment, especially for meltblown, a critical base material for PPE. It’s no surprise that news of meltblown and wipes were some of the most widely read breaking stories of the year. And of course, hygiene—the largest market for nonwovens—was another main topic of interest for Nonwovens Industry readers.

The following is a list of the Top 10 breaking news articles that captured your attention the most during this particularly unique year.

1. Ontex Reported to be in Talks to buy Domtar's Personal Care Biz
According to a report published in the Bloomberg financial news service in September, Belgium-based Ontex Group NV is considering a bid for Domtar Corp.’s personal care business. The deal could value the unit, which has operations in the U.S. and Europe, at as much as $1.1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Domtar announced the personal care unit was under review during its August earnings call.

“Over the past year, we have significantly improved the operating structure and cost profile of our Personal Care division due in large part to the hard work and perseverance of our teams. In addition, the scale-up of new customer and sales pipeline gives us confidence in the long-term prospects for the business,” CEO John Williams said. “With this positive momentum, we believe now is the right time to initiate a strategic review.”

2. Berry Announces $20M Capacity Expansion for Sustainable, Breathable Films
In January, Berry Global announced it was expanding its hygiene, healthcare, and specialty films platform in North America. The investment covers both extrusion and printing capabilities in support of growing breathable film and sustainable product market demands in the North American region. The investment—which Berry announced is coming onstream this month—includes added capacity for its proprietary Sof-Flex technology and the addition of the newest flexographic printing equipment.

3. Berry Starts Up Spinlace Line in NC
In March, as it was announcing that its third Spinlace asset in the U.S. was starting up, Berry Global highlighted how it was prioritizing the production of healthcare materials as the novel coronavirus was spreading across the globe. In the U.S., Berry shifted capacity to supply maximum output in response to increased demand for healthcare materials, including materials for hard surface disinfectant wipes and face masks. In Europe, the company’s meltblown lines began running around the clock to produce materials for face masks and other healthcare applications, such as materials used in blood filtration.

4. Mondi Building Line to Make Fully Biodegradable Nonwovens for Wipes
Sustainability is a huge topic of interest in the nonwovens industry, and in February Mondi announced it had developed a new Carded Airlaid Carded (CAC) line to create a more sustainable three-layer nonwoven for wipes. The new line will use 100% cellulose content, including viscose and pulp from certified sources, resulting in a nonwoven material that is fully biodegradable. The wipes can be used for personal hygiene and cleaning purposes.

5. Private Equity Group in Talks to Buy Ahlstrom-Munksjö
A consortium of private equity interests including Bain Capital said in September it was offering to buy nonwovens and specialty paper maker Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj in a deal valuing the Finnish firm at around €2.1 billion. The consortium, Spa Holdings 3 Oy, intends to invest "significant time, resources and capital" to support Ahlstrom-Munksjö's strategy for long-term profitable growth.

6. Fitesa Strikes Deal to Buy Tredegar's Personal Care Business
In August, Brazil-based nonwovens producer Fitesa entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Tredegar Corporation’s Personal Care Films business. The personal care film business has approximately 400 employees worldwide and includes manufacturing sites located in Terre Haute, IN, Kerkrade, The Netherlands; Rétság, Hungary; Diadema, Brazil and Pune, India. The acquisition strengthens Fitesa’s films, elastics and laminates business.

7. PFNonwovens Approves Two Line Investments
In April, the board of directors at PFNonwovens approved new nonwovens investments in the U.S. and the Czech Republic. The U.S. investment, in Hazleton, PA, is a Reicofil 5 - 3.2m wide line and will be equipped with a state-of-the-art specialized and proprietary fabric enhancement unit that will create premium garment-like fabrics for the North American hygiene market. The line will also have a bicomponent capability to produce bio-sourced and other specialty products. This line will also increase the capacity to produce medical fabrics in Hazleton to address medical health crises such as Covid-19.

Meanwhile, at PFNonwovens' Zhojmo, Czech Republic, plant, the board approved the addition of a new meltblown line for face mask material and medical wipes applications. The new line will be made available to Czech government as well as to private customers in the Czech Republic and in Europe.

8. Reicofil Shortens Meltblown Line Supply to 3.5 Months
Machinery supplier Reifenhäuser Reicofil announced in March it was shortening the delivery time for meltblown lines to only 3.5 months. Meltblown nonwovens serve as the crucial middle layer material in face masks.

Dr. Bernd Kunze, CEO of Reifenhäuser Reicofil, is convinced that quick and reliable solutions like this are needed in the coronavirus crisis: “In situations like the current one, we gladly depart from customary procedures. Sticking to standards in a non-standard situation is out of place," he said at the time. "It goes without saying that we will do everything in our power to serve the needs quickly and in the accustomed high quality.”

9. Berry Adding Meltblown Line
Speaking of Reicofil, Berry Global announced in April it was advancing its investment in an additional specialty meltblown asset from the machinery specialist to produce high-efficiency filtration media serving the EMEIA markets. The asset is located in France.

The investment meets increased demand and customer growth and will be focused on premium applications, such as FFP2 (N95) and FFP3 (N99) for industrial face masks and cabin air filtration markets.

10. Rockline to Double Disinfectant Wipes Capacity
In addition to ramping up production of disinfectant wipes at the onset of the pandemic, Rockline announced in August it was doubling its disinfectant wipes capacity with a new $20 million state of the art line. When completed, the new production line, known as the XC-105 Galaxy, will be one of the largest production lines for disinfecting wipes in the private brands wet wipes industry. The line will be located at the company’s Sheboygan, WI, site.