01.01.02
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Sales: $101 Million
Description: Key Personnel
Kenji Suzuki, director
Plants
Yokkaichi and Iakuni
Processes
Spunbonded, needlepunched, melt blown, thermal bonded
Brand Names
Tafnel, Syntex
Major Markets
Coverstock, geotextiles, oil absorbing materials, air filtration, wipes, agricultural materials, household materials..
In expansion mode is roll goods producer Mitsui Chemicals, Tokyo, Japan, which specializes in polypropylene spunbonded nonwovens as well as SMS materials. The company is currently constructing a 14,000-ton-per-year SMS facility, based on Reifenhauser technology, in Thailand through its wholly-owned Taiwanese subsidiary MHM. The new line brings the company’s total SMS capacity to 23,000 tons. The company also produces 25,000 tons of polypropylene spunbonded nonwovens.
The demand for spunbond and SMS in Southeast Asia and China is growing in tandem with increasing demand for baby diapers and subsequently coverstock materials. The Thailand site will help to satisfy this demand, allowing Mitsui to produce materials locally rather than exporting them from Japan. The new facility will target Thailand, China and the Philippines. Mitsui intends to ramp up production at the new site until 2005 when it will be fully operational. Then, if things go well, additional capacity will be added in 2006.
In addition to targeting the growing Southeast Asian market, the new capacity could eventually be imported into Japan where nonwovens production is reportedly costly and results don’t stand up to price competition.
Besides coverstock material, Mitsui Chemicals is developing various new uses for nonwovens. Among these new uses, the diaper plays a prominent role with about 80% of the new applications involving diapers in one way or another. It is in this way that Mitsui Chemicals, the largest producer of spunbond nonwovens in Japan, hopes to open up the domestic market.
The largest Japanese manufacturer of spunbond nonwovens for diaper applications, Mitsui holds a 50% share of the domestic market. The company first entered the SMS market in 2000 with the construction of a new line. SMS materials created by Mitsui compete with products from Asahi Kasei, Osaka, Japan, the second largest producer of spunbond nonwovens in Japan.
Sales: $101 Million
Description: Key Personnel
Kenji Suzuki, director
Plants
Yokkaichi and Iakuni
Processes
Spunbonded, needlepunched, melt blown, thermal bonded
Brand Names
Tafnel, Syntex
Major Markets
Coverstock, geotextiles, oil absorbing materials, air filtration, wipes, agricultural materials, household materials..
In expansion mode is roll goods producer Mitsui Chemicals, Tokyo, Japan, which specializes in polypropylene spunbonded nonwovens as well as SMS materials. The company is currently constructing a 14,000-ton-per-year SMS facility, based on Reifenhauser technology, in Thailand through its wholly-owned Taiwanese subsidiary MHM. The new line brings the company’s total SMS capacity to 23,000 tons. The company also produces 25,000 tons of polypropylene spunbonded nonwovens.
The demand for spunbond and SMS in Southeast Asia and China is growing in tandem with increasing demand for baby diapers and subsequently coverstock materials. The Thailand site will help to satisfy this demand, allowing Mitsui to produce materials locally rather than exporting them from Japan. The new facility will target Thailand, China and the Philippines. Mitsui intends to ramp up production at the new site until 2005 when it will be fully operational. Then, if things go well, additional capacity will be added in 2006.
In addition to targeting the growing Southeast Asian market, the new capacity could eventually be imported into Japan where nonwovens production is reportedly costly and results don’t stand up to price competition.
Besides coverstock material, Mitsui Chemicals is developing various new uses for nonwovens. Among these new uses, the diaper plays a prominent role with about 80% of the new applications involving diapers in one way or another. It is in this way that Mitsui Chemicals, the largest producer of spunbond nonwovens in Japan, hopes to open up the domestic market.
The largest Japanese manufacturer of spunbond nonwovens for diaper applications, Mitsui holds a 50% share of the domestic market. The company first entered the SMS market in 2000 with the construction of a new line. SMS materials created by Mitsui compete with products from Asahi Kasei, Osaka, Japan, the second largest producer of spunbond nonwovens in Japan.