01.01.05
Location: Old Hickory, TN
Sales: $1 billion
Description: BBA Fiberweb – Industrial North America
Old Hickory, TN
BBA Fiberweb – Hygiene Americas
Simpsonville, SC
Plants
Bethune, SC; Green Bay, WI; Gray Court, SC; Griswoldville, MA; Queretaro, Mexico; Old Hickory, TN; Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil; Simpsonville, SC; Washougal, WA
Processes
Airlaid, chemical bonded, caustic entanglement, thermal bonding, hydroentanglement, meltblown, sorbent composites, spunbond PP, Spunbond PET, PP and PET bicomponent
Brand Names
Reemay, Korma, Liberty, Qualiflo, Starweb, AQF, Securon, Terram, Typar, Softex, Sofspan, Webril, Novonette, Biobarrier, Bidim, Linopor, UltraFlo
Major Markets
Construction and ground contact, consumer care, filtration, hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, sorbent materials
BBA Fiberweb - Asia-Pacific
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Plants
Tianjin, China; Rayong, Thailand
Processes
Airlaid, chemical bonded, caustic entanglement, thermal bonding, hydroentanglement, meltblown, sorbent composites, spunbond PP, PET bicomponent
Brand Names
Reemay, Korma, Starweb, AQF, Securon, Terram, Typar, Softex, Sofspan, Webril, Novonette, Biobarrier, Bidim, Linopor, UltraFlo
Major Markets
Construction and ground contact, consumer care, filtration, hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, sorbent materials
BBA Fiberweb—Europe
Trezzano Rosa Italy
Web: www.bbafiberweb.com
Plants
Biesheim, France; Aschersleben, Germany; Berlin, Germany; Trezzano Rosa, Italy; Pontypool, U.K.; Norrköping, Sweden; Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia (JV); Port Elizabeth, South Africa (JV), Peine, Germany; Peregallo di Lesmo, Italy, Terno d’Isola, Italy, Alicante, Spain
Processes
Airlaid, chemical bonded, caustic entanglement, thermal bonding, hydroentanglement, meltblown, sorbent composites, spunbond PP, PP and PET bicomponent
Brand Names
Reemay, Korma, Starweb, AQF, Securon, Terram, Typar, Softex, Sofspan, Webril, Novonette, Biobarrier, Bidim, Linopor, UltraFlo
Major Markets
Construction and ground contact, consumer care, filtration, hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, sorbent materials
BBA Materials Group—Sorbent Division
Peregallo di Lesmo Italy
Plants
Peregallo di Lesmo, Italy; Charlotte, NC; Simpsonville, SC; Tianjin, China
Processes
Airlaid, chemical bonded, caustic entanglement, thermal bonding, hydroentanglement, meltblown, sorbent composites, spunbond PP, PET bicomponent
Brand Names
Reemay, Korma, Starweb, AQF, Securon, Terram, Typar, Softex, Sofspan, Webril, Novonette, Biobarrier, Bidim, Linopor, UltraFlo
Major Markets
Construction and ground contact, consumer care, filtration, hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, sorbent materials
Two major acquisitions as well as double-digit revenue growth helped propel BBA Fiberweb’s sales past the $1 billion mark in 2004. The multinational nonwovens producer’s sales were $850 million in 2003.
“Revenue growth has been good,” said vice president John Reeves. “The nonwovens industry is typically growing at a better rate than the gross domestic product. The problem, however, is tightened margins. Raw material price increases have made things extremely difficult. Margins have declined and we continue to work toward reinvestment levels.”
The bright side of the situation is that roll good price increases—blamed largely on rising raw material prices—announced throughout 2004 and into 2005, are starting to be accepted by BBA Fiberweb’s customers. Beyond pricing increases, BBA Fiberweb has also worked diligently to absorb these prices by improving yields and reducing waste. “There is a long list of things you can do, but even with all of these initiatives, we weren’t nearly able to absorb the costs,” Mr. Reeves said.
The worst part of the raw material prices, which affected virtually all of the ingredients BBA Fiberweb works with, was the quickness of its acceleration. “People in nonwovens were surprised at how quickly things skyrocketed. It wasn’t just oil prices, it was a matter of supply and demand,” Mr. Reeves said, adding that this experience should help nonwovens executives to better understand raw material trends. “We will need to spend more time looking at pricing trends and we will need to find alternative technologies to use in the applications we serve. Hopefully this will make us more flexible in terms of the materials we are using.”
Last year, 44% of sales were conducted in Europe, 48% in the Americas and 8% in the Asia-Pacific region. According to Mr. Reeves, this is a breakdown BBA Fiberweb is happy with, for now. “There is no question we are trying to drive growth in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said. “We want it to grow to be in step with our other regions, and we feel we have a good foundation there.”
The company currently operates an airlaid line in Tianjin, China as well as a spunmelt line in Thailand, through its joint venture with CP International. According to company literature, the Tianjin line’s output was up 12% in 2004, bringing it nearly to full capacity, on increased demand from the feminine hygiene market. Meanwhile, CNC, the Thai joint venture company has benefited from increased demand in the baby care and medical segments.
Recognizing the Asia-Pacific region as the fastest-growing area for nonwovens worldwide, BBA Fiberweb has made expansion there a top priority. A number of new projects are currently under development in the region. “You have to really look at the market. You don’t want to put in capacity that the market is not ready for,” Mr. Reeves said. “BBA Fiberweb is looking at the right technologies for the right markets in the right locations.”
Another region with bullish prospects is Latin America, where BBA Fiberweb already operates a facility in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil and in San Jose Iturbide, Mexico. With these lines operating at near capacity, the company is also deciding what next to do in this region, which offers 8% growth levels in some areas. The challenge here, according to Mr. Reeves, is figuring out how socioeconomic patterns vary from one country to the other. “We are seeing near double-digit growth rates but that’s not in every country. Understanding how to match your capacity with the changing trends is the key.”
Meanwhile, in North America and Europe, overcapacity continues to be a problem in nonwovens and this situation is partly responsible for eroding margins. Despite this, BBA Fiberweb continues to see solid organic growth. Last year, North American sales rose 7-8% in a number of applications, namely adult incontinence, wipes, filtration and construction. BBA Fiberweb’s European sales have been boosted by its acquisitions of Italian nonwovens producers Technofibra in 2003 and Tenotex last year.
A developer of spunlace, thermal bonded and needlepunched nonwovens for the European wipes market, Tecnofibra generated about E43.8 million in 2002. Tenotex, also a significant player in the European wipes market, reported sales of $88 million last year.
The acquisitions will reportedly give BBA Fiberweb more of an edge in industrial applications, particularly in the wipes areas, where it is seeing 6-7% growth levels. “Traditionally, we have been stronger in hygiene than in industrial and these acquisitions give us more opportunities in industrial,” Mr. Reeves said. “We wanted to create a better balance between the two.”
In addition to the acquisitions of Tenotex and Technofibra, BBA Fiberweb’s spunlace business includes a large-scale line in Bethune, SC, added in 2002, which is reportedly operating at nearly full capacity to supply the baby wipes market. This segment has seen considerable growth from the vastly proliferating wipes market but a rapid rate of investment in spunlace technology has made overcapacity a concern. This situation has already hit Europe, where new lines are operating, and could occur in North America, with at least three new lines planned to come onstream in the next several months, joining several new lines already up and running. “Overcapacity should be a concern for everybody,” Mr. Reeves said. “Assets need to be balanced in the right way.”
BBA Fiberweb has been spending a lot of time on bicomponent technology and already has bicomponent capacity at two facilities in the U.S. and has recently added a 4000-ton-per-year line in Europe, which produces elastic spunbond nonwovens and was developed by Advanced Design Concepts, BBA Fiberweb’s joint venture company with The Dow Chemical Company. Introduced in spring 2004, this stretchable spunbond nonwoven presents promising opportunities to the nonwovens industry because of the performance it can give to hygiene, medical and apparel products. Made from proprietary bico spunbond technology, this elastic material can substitute film/net laminate structures and is initially available in basis weights ranging from 25 to
150 gpsm. Produced in a single step, the materials target personal hygiene, disposable medical and apparel applications and offer unique properties such as breathability, drape and hand not currently available with elastic films, nets, monofilaments or foams.
Another new polymer is a polyethylene spunbond that combines the softness of polyethylene with the abrasive resistance of polypropylene. This new technology gives the hygiene market and others an alternative to polypropylene, which has been the victim of dramatic price increases during the past 12-18 months.
For accounting purposes, BBA breaks its Fiberweb business into two divisions, industrial and consumer care and healthcare. Last year, industrial and consumer care sales grew a reported 16% thanks to both acquisitions and organic growth. According to reports, this large and diverse business will continue to grow in higher, valued-added segments such as medical, wipes, consumer care and filtration. Key growth strategies include increasing non-U.S.-based business and exiting business characterized by lower returns.
In the filtration market, BBA Fiberweb’s Reemay Brand product has been successful in the pool and spa market while expanding the breadth of the company’s filtration offerings in general. The filtration market continues to be an area of growth interest for BBA Fiberweb.
Another hot spot on the industrial side of BBA Fiberweb’s business is construction. Its Typar product continues to be number two in the market thanks to its combination of strength, tear resistance, moisture vapor properties and ease of use. BBA Fiberweb has been adding new products to the Typar line to build on the strength of its housewrap product with a range of target-specific products such as flashing and roof wrap.
Going forward, it is these key strategies that BBA Fiberweb will rely on to succeed in the future. “We will continue to finetune our assets to drive top and bottom line growth,” Mr. Reeves said. “How we do this will vary from one part of the world to the other, so we have to look at each region separately. That’s a big part of what we are trying to manage right now.”"
Sales: $1 billion
Description: BBA Fiberweb – Industrial North America
Old Hickory, TN
BBA Fiberweb – Hygiene Americas
Simpsonville, SC
Plants
Bethune, SC; Green Bay, WI; Gray Court, SC; Griswoldville, MA; Queretaro, Mexico; Old Hickory, TN; Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil; Simpsonville, SC; Washougal, WA
Processes
Airlaid, chemical bonded, caustic entanglement, thermal bonding, hydroentanglement, meltblown, sorbent composites, spunbond PP, Spunbond PET, PP and PET bicomponent
Brand Names
Reemay, Korma, Liberty, Qualiflo, Starweb, AQF, Securon, Terram, Typar, Softex, Sofspan, Webril, Novonette, Biobarrier, Bidim, Linopor, UltraFlo
Major Markets
Construction and ground contact, consumer care, filtration, hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, sorbent materials
BBA Fiberweb - Asia-Pacific
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Plants
Tianjin, China; Rayong, Thailand
Processes
Airlaid, chemical bonded, caustic entanglement, thermal bonding, hydroentanglement, meltblown, sorbent composites, spunbond PP, PET bicomponent
Brand Names
Reemay, Korma, Starweb, AQF, Securon, Terram, Typar, Softex, Sofspan, Webril, Novonette, Biobarrier, Bidim, Linopor, UltraFlo
Major Markets
Construction and ground contact, consumer care, filtration, hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, sorbent materials
BBA Fiberweb—Europe
Trezzano Rosa Italy
Web: www.bbafiberweb.com
Plants
Biesheim, France; Aschersleben, Germany; Berlin, Germany; Trezzano Rosa, Italy; Pontypool, U.K.; Norrköping, Sweden; Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia (JV); Port Elizabeth, South Africa (JV), Peine, Germany; Peregallo di Lesmo, Italy, Terno d’Isola, Italy, Alicante, Spain
Processes
Airlaid, chemical bonded, caustic entanglement, thermal bonding, hydroentanglement, meltblown, sorbent composites, spunbond PP, PP and PET bicomponent
Brand Names
Reemay, Korma, Starweb, AQF, Securon, Terram, Typar, Softex, Sofspan, Webril, Novonette, Biobarrier, Bidim, Linopor, UltraFlo
Major Markets
Construction and ground contact, consumer care, filtration, hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, sorbent materials
BBA Materials Group—Sorbent Division
Peregallo di Lesmo Italy
Plants
Peregallo di Lesmo, Italy; Charlotte, NC; Simpsonville, SC; Tianjin, China
Processes
Airlaid, chemical bonded, caustic entanglement, thermal bonding, hydroentanglement, meltblown, sorbent composites, spunbond PP, PET bicomponent
Brand Names
Reemay, Korma, Starweb, AQF, Securon, Terram, Typar, Softex, Sofspan, Webril, Novonette, Biobarrier, Bidim, Linopor, UltraFlo
Major Markets
Construction and ground contact, consumer care, filtration, hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, sorbent materials
Two major acquisitions as well as double-digit revenue growth helped propel BBA Fiberweb’s sales past the $1 billion mark in 2004. The multinational nonwovens producer’s sales were $850 million in 2003.
“Revenue growth has been good,” said vice president John Reeves. “The nonwovens industry is typically growing at a better rate than the gross domestic product. The problem, however, is tightened margins. Raw material price increases have made things extremely difficult. Margins have declined and we continue to work toward reinvestment levels.”
The bright side of the situation is that roll good price increases—blamed largely on rising raw material prices—announced throughout 2004 and into 2005, are starting to be accepted by BBA Fiberweb’s customers. Beyond pricing increases, BBA Fiberweb has also worked diligently to absorb these prices by improving yields and reducing waste. “There is a long list of things you can do, but even with all of these initiatives, we weren’t nearly able to absorb the costs,” Mr. Reeves said.
The worst part of the raw material prices, which affected virtually all of the ingredients BBA Fiberweb works with, was the quickness of its acceleration. “People in nonwovens were surprised at how quickly things skyrocketed. It wasn’t just oil prices, it was a matter of supply and demand,” Mr. Reeves said, adding that this experience should help nonwovens executives to better understand raw material trends. “We will need to spend more time looking at pricing trends and we will need to find alternative technologies to use in the applications we serve. Hopefully this will make us more flexible in terms of the materials we are using.”
Last year, 44% of sales were conducted in Europe, 48% in the Americas and 8% in the Asia-Pacific region. According to Mr. Reeves, this is a breakdown BBA Fiberweb is happy with, for now. “There is no question we are trying to drive growth in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said. “We want it to grow to be in step with our other regions, and we feel we have a good foundation there.”
The company currently operates an airlaid line in Tianjin, China as well as a spunmelt line in Thailand, through its joint venture with CP International. According to company literature, the Tianjin line’s output was up 12% in 2004, bringing it nearly to full capacity, on increased demand from the feminine hygiene market. Meanwhile, CNC, the Thai joint venture company has benefited from increased demand in the baby care and medical segments.
Recognizing the Asia-Pacific region as the fastest-growing area for nonwovens worldwide, BBA Fiberweb has made expansion there a top priority. A number of new projects are currently under development in the region. “You have to really look at the market. You don’t want to put in capacity that the market is not ready for,” Mr. Reeves said. “BBA Fiberweb is looking at the right technologies for the right markets in the right locations.”
Another region with bullish prospects is Latin America, where BBA Fiberweb already operates a facility in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil and in San Jose Iturbide, Mexico. With these lines operating at near capacity, the company is also deciding what next to do in this region, which offers 8% growth levels in some areas. The challenge here, according to Mr. Reeves, is figuring out how socioeconomic patterns vary from one country to the other. “We are seeing near double-digit growth rates but that’s not in every country. Understanding how to match your capacity with the changing trends is the key.”
Meanwhile, in North America and Europe, overcapacity continues to be a problem in nonwovens and this situation is partly responsible for eroding margins. Despite this, BBA Fiberweb continues to see solid organic growth. Last year, North American sales rose 7-8% in a number of applications, namely adult incontinence, wipes, filtration and construction. BBA Fiberweb’s European sales have been boosted by its acquisitions of Italian nonwovens producers Technofibra in 2003 and Tenotex last year.
A developer of spunlace, thermal bonded and needlepunched nonwovens for the European wipes market, Tecnofibra generated about E43.8 million in 2002. Tenotex, also a significant player in the European wipes market, reported sales of $88 million last year.
The acquisitions will reportedly give BBA Fiberweb more of an edge in industrial applications, particularly in the wipes areas, where it is seeing 6-7% growth levels. “Traditionally, we have been stronger in hygiene than in industrial and these acquisitions give us more opportunities in industrial,” Mr. Reeves said. “We wanted to create a better balance between the two.”
In addition to the acquisitions of Tenotex and Technofibra, BBA Fiberweb’s spunlace business includes a large-scale line in Bethune, SC, added in 2002, which is reportedly operating at nearly full capacity to supply the baby wipes market. This segment has seen considerable growth from the vastly proliferating wipes market but a rapid rate of investment in spunlace technology has made overcapacity a concern. This situation has already hit Europe, where new lines are operating, and could occur in North America, with at least three new lines planned to come onstream in the next several months, joining several new lines already up and running. “Overcapacity should be a concern for everybody,” Mr. Reeves said. “Assets need to be balanced in the right way.”
BBA Fiberweb has been spending a lot of time on bicomponent technology and already has bicomponent capacity at two facilities in the U.S. and has recently added a 4000-ton-per-year line in Europe, which produces elastic spunbond nonwovens and was developed by Advanced Design Concepts, BBA Fiberweb’s joint venture company with The Dow Chemical Company. Introduced in spring 2004, this stretchable spunbond nonwoven presents promising opportunities to the nonwovens industry because of the performance it can give to hygiene, medical and apparel products. Made from proprietary bico spunbond technology, this elastic material can substitute film/net laminate structures and is initially available in basis weights ranging from 25 to
150 gpsm. Produced in a single step, the materials target personal hygiene, disposable medical and apparel applications and offer unique properties such as breathability, drape and hand not currently available with elastic films, nets, monofilaments or foams.
Another new polymer is a polyethylene spunbond that combines the softness of polyethylene with the abrasive resistance of polypropylene. This new technology gives the hygiene market and others an alternative to polypropylene, which has been the victim of dramatic price increases during the past 12-18 months.
For accounting purposes, BBA breaks its Fiberweb business into two divisions, industrial and consumer care and healthcare. Last year, industrial and consumer care sales grew a reported 16% thanks to both acquisitions and organic growth. According to reports, this large and diverse business will continue to grow in higher, valued-added segments such as medical, wipes, consumer care and filtration. Key growth strategies include increasing non-U.S.-based business and exiting business characterized by lower returns.
In the filtration market, BBA Fiberweb’s Reemay Brand product has been successful in the pool and spa market while expanding the breadth of the company’s filtration offerings in general. The filtration market continues to be an area of growth interest for BBA Fiberweb.
Another hot spot on the industrial side of BBA Fiberweb’s business is construction. Its Typar product continues to be number two in the market thanks to its combination of strength, tear resistance, moisture vapor properties and ease of use. BBA Fiberweb has been adding new products to the Typar line to build on the strength of its housewrap product with a range of target-specific products such as flashing and roof wrap.
Going forward, it is these key strategies that BBA Fiberweb will rely on to succeed in the future. “We will continue to finetune our assets to drive top and bottom line growth,” Mr. Reeves said. “How we do this will vary from one part of the world to the other, so we have to look at each region separately. That’s a big part of what we are trying to manage right now.”"