01.01.08
Location: LINZ, AUSTRIA
Sales: $102 million
Description: Key Personnel
Andreas Matje, CEO; Gerold Freudenthaler, commercial director East; Jean-Pasqual Mermet, commercial director West; Jan-Willem Heezen, commercial director Industrial fabrics; Günter Froschauer, marketing director; Cor Roozemond, VP product supply, Christian Korn, VP finance; Frank ten Oever, VP human resources
Plants
Linz, Austria; Bezons, France; Almelo, The Netherlands
ISO Status
ISO 9001:2000
Processes
Spunbond, needlepunch and hydroentanglement
Brand Names
TenCate Polyfelt, TenCate Bidim, TenCate Geolon, TenCate Nicolon, TenCate Geotube Systems
Major MarketS
Geosynthetics
The positive developments of 2006 continued in 2007 for TenCate Geosynthetics Europe. Strong sales in all of its markets—from Europe, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), to the Near and Middle East and Africa—contributed to the company’s solid results. Primary drivers were TenCate Geosynthetics’ strong strategic position in European civil engineering and construction markets and a positive economic background.
Nonwovens continue to play a vital role for the company, representing more than half (60%) of overall sales. Its European nonwovens capacity remains at 30,000 tons, with a 70/30 split between needlepunched and hydroentanglement technologies. “This capacity is absolutely sufficient to serve our target markets for the time being,” explained Andreas Matje, managing director. “Our strategy is constant and is in the process of being successfully implemented.”
TenCate Geosynthetics’ main export markets have traditionally been within the European Union, including the new EU candidates. Other neighboring countries such as CIS, the Near and Middle East (especially the Golf area and Turkey) and the other Eastern European countries are gaining importance as their economies improve and many important infrastructural measures are in construction or in the decision phase. For this reason, TenCate Geosynthetics’ export ratio is still growing.
The company is continuing to strive toward offering a complete and competitive product range for all core applications. “We do this by leveraging our international capabilities to combine products from our various plants and learn from our international activities,” Mr. Matje remarked. “The process to integrate additional products and solutions into our offering is therefore a key success factor.”
As for what factors will shape the geotextiles business in the future, Mr. Matje put industry consolidation at the top of his list, mainly driven by the fact that bigger companies such as Tencate Geosynthetics are able to offer better quality for services and products on a constant basis compared to smaller competitors, especially in a competitive environment.
Sales: $102 million
Description: Key Personnel
Andreas Matje, CEO; Gerold Freudenthaler, commercial director East; Jean-Pasqual Mermet, commercial director West; Jan-Willem Heezen, commercial director Industrial fabrics; Günter Froschauer, marketing director; Cor Roozemond, VP product supply, Christian Korn, VP finance; Frank ten Oever, VP human resources
Plants
Linz, Austria; Bezons, France; Almelo, The Netherlands
ISO Status
ISO 9001:2000
Processes
Spunbond, needlepunch and hydroentanglement
Brand Names
TenCate Polyfelt, TenCate Bidim, TenCate Geolon, TenCate Nicolon, TenCate Geotube Systems
Major MarketS
Geosynthetics
The positive developments of 2006 continued in 2007 for TenCate Geosynthetics Europe. Strong sales in all of its markets—from Europe, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), to the Near and Middle East and Africa—contributed to the company’s solid results. Primary drivers were TenCate Geosynthetics’ strong strategic position in European civil engineering and construction markets and a positive economic background.
Nonwovens continue to play a vital role for the company, representing more than half (60%) of overall sales. Its European nonwovens capacity remains at 30,000 tons, with a 70/30 split between needlepunched and hydroentanglement technologies. “This capacity is absolutely sufficient to serve our target markets for the time being,” explained Andreas Matje, managing director. “Our strategy is constant and is in the process of being successfully implemented.”
TenCate Geosynthetics’ main export markets have traditionally been within the European Union, including the new EU candidates. Other neighboring countries such as CIS, the Near and Middle East (especially the Golf area and Turkey) and the other Eastern European countries are gaining importance as their economies improve and many important infrastructural measures are in construction or in the decision phase. For this reason, TenCate Geosynthetics’ export ratio is still growing.
The company is continuing to strive toward offering a complete and competitive product range for all core applications. “We do this by leveraging our international capabilities to combine products from our various plants and learn from our international activities,” Mr. Matje remarked. “The process to integrate additional products and solutions into our offering is therefore a key success factor.”
As for what factors will shape the geotextiles business in the future, Mr. Matje put industry consolidation at the top of his list, mainly driven by the fact that bigger companies such as Tencate Geosynthetics are able to offer better quality for services and products on a constant basis compared to smaller competitors, especially in a competitive environment.