09.03.21
Helsinki, Finland
www.suominen.fi
2020 Nonwovens Sales: $560 million
Key Personnel
Petri Helsky, CEO; Toni Tamminen, CFO; Markku Koivisto, senior vice president, Europe and CTO; Lynda Kelly, senior vice president, Americas and Business Development; Mimoun Saim, senior vice president, Global Operations; Klaus Korhonen, senior vice president, HR and Legal Affairs
Plants
Bethune, SC; Green Bay, WI; Windsor Locks, CT; Paulinia, Brazil; Cressa, Italy; Mozzate, Italy; Nakkila, Finland; Alicante, Spain
Processes
Spunlace, wetlaid, thermal bond, chemical bond, SPC, Webril
Major Markets
Wipes, medical, hygiene
Record sales were reported at wipes substrate supplier Suominen Corporation. The Helsinki, Finland-based company’s sales reached €458.9 million ($560 million) with strong operating profit due to unprecedented demand for wipes. This demand has continued into 2021.
“We believe long term, Covid-19 may lead to a change in consumer cleaning behavior and thus maintain high demand for nonwovens for cleaning and infection,” says Lynda Kelly, senior vice president, Americas & Business Development.
Suominen’s investment strategy developed prior to Covid-19 strengthened its capabilities and increased capacity. Suominen announced several upgrades at its plants in the U.S. and Europe. In Bethune, SC, Suominen will have an upgrade to an existing line to widen its offerings. Bethune is the site with the company’s latest wetlaid investment which was well prepared to support the surge in wipes demand. Meanwhile, in Europe Suominen increased its spunlace capacity by upgrading and restarting one of its existing production lines in Cressa, Italy. This €8 million investment will strengthen its capabilities in Europe. Also in Italy, the company enhanced another production line to strengthen its ability to make sustainable products. This investment was valued at €4 million.
“The wipes market continues to have positive CAGRs in all regions supported by increasing penetration rates, new applications and new designs within existing and emerging brands,” says Kelly. “Given continued positive trends, the market will absorb these new capacity investments. With the entire supply chain focused on improving its carbon footprint, sourcing within the region of wipes consumption will become a more important part of the sustainable wipes solution.”
As the market leader for wipes, Suominen will continue to focus on delivering on its growth and profitability strategy. “We stayed true to our strategy during the unprecedented demand of Covid by continuing our investments and innovation plans,” Kelly says.
At the start of 2020, Suominen introduced a new strategy, which was ground up involving many functions, regions and perspectives to create strategy ownership from the beginning. The strategy highlights five focus areas—operational excellence, sustainability leadership, differentiation through innovation and commercial excellence, a great place to work and a dual operating model.
Furthermore, the company renewed financial targets for the strategy period 2020-2025 which includes net sales growth above market growth and an EBITDA margin above 12% by 2025.
“We are committed to continuously improving our production efficiency and the efficient utilization of natural resources,” Kelly says. “Our target is to reduce our energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and waste to landfill. We have concrete action plans to continue the work towards the targets.”
On the product side, Suominen’s target is to increase sales of sustainable materials by 50% and to have more than 10 sustainable product launches per year. In 2020, the company launched nine sustainable products and sales increased by 22.5%. “Sustainability is of growing importance to our customers and other stakeholders,” Kelly says. “We aid our customers to achieve their environmental targets by offering products made from renewable, recycled, compostable and plastic-free raw materials.”
As such the company has launched a number of sustainable options for the household market. In sync with this strategy, Suominen has introduced products such as Biolace Pure, a 100% plant-based product with superior cleaning power. The development of this innovative material with excellent liquid management and cleaning properties is based on Suominen’s long history and know-how in producing pulp-based products. Another sustainable household product launched is Biolace Bamboo, also with superior cleaning power. As the name indicates, the main raw material used in Biolace bamboo consists of bamboo—a perennial grass that is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. The speed of its re-growth after harvesting makes it a considerable alternative for use in place of other renewable raw materials.
www.suominen.fi
2020 Nonwovens Sales: $560 million
Key Personnel
Petri Helsky, CEO; Toni Tamminen, CFO; Markku Koivisto, senior vice president, Europe and CTO; Lynda Kelly, senior vice president, Americas and Business Development; Mimoun Saim, senior vice president, Global Operations; Klaus Korhonen, senior vice president, HR and Legal Affairs
Plants
Bethune, SC; Green Bay, WI; Windsor Locks, CT; Paulinia, Brazil; Cressa, Italy; Mozzate, Italy; Nakkila, Finland; Alicante, Spain
Processes
Spunlace, wetlaid, thermal bond, chemical bond, SPC, Webril
Major Markets
Wipes, medical, hygiene
Record sales were reported at wipes substrate supplier Suominen Corporation. The Helsinki, Finland-based company’s sales reached €458.9 million ($560 million) with strong operating profit due to unprecedented demand for wipes. This demand has continued into 2021.
“We believe long term, Covid-19 may lead to a change in consumer cleaning behavior and thus maintain high demand for nonwovens for cleaning and infection,” says Lynda Kelly, senior vice president, Americas & Business Development.
Suominen’s investment strategy developed prior to Covid-19 strengthened its capabilities and increased capacity. Suominen announced several upgrades at its plants in the U.S. and Europe. In Bethune, SC, Suominen will have an upgrade to an existing line to widen its offerings. Bethune is the site with the company’s latest wetlaid investment which was well prepared to support the surge in wipes demand. Meanwhile, in Europe Suominen increased its spunlace capacity by upgrading and restarting one of its existing production lines in Cressa, Italy. This €8 million investment will strengthen its capabilities in Europe. Also in Italy, the company enhanced another production line to strengthen its ability to make sustainable products. This investment was valued at €4 million.
“The wipes market continues to have positive CAGRs in all regions supported by increasing penetration rates, new applications and new designs within existing and emerging brands,” says Kelly. “Given continued positive trends, the market will absorb these new capacity investments. With the entire supply chain focused on improving its carbon footprint, sourcing within the region of wipes consumption will become a more important part of the sustainable wipes solution.”
As the market leader for wipes, Suominen will continue to focus on delivering on its growth and profitability strategy. “We stayed true to our strategy during the unprecedented demand of Covid by continuing our investments and innovation plans,” Kelly says.
At the start of 2020, Suominen introduced a new strategy, which was ground up involving many functions, regions and perspectives to create strategy ownership from the beginning. The strategy highlights five focus areas—operational excellence, sustainability leadership, differentiation through innovation and commercial excellence, a great place to work and a dual operating model.
Furthermore, the company renewed financial targets for the strategy period 2020-2025 which includes net sales growth above market growth and an EBITDA margin above 12% by 2025.
“We are committed to continuously improving our production efficiency and the efficient utilization of natural resources,” Kelly says. “Our target is to reduce our energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and waste to landfill. We have concrete action plans to continue the work towards the targets.”
On the product side, Suominen’s target is to increase sales of sustainable materials by 50% and to have more than 10 sustainable product launches per year. In 2020, the company launched nine sustainable products and sales increased by 22.5%. “Sustainability is of growing importance to our customers and other stakeholders,” Kelly says. “We aid our customers to achieve their environmental targets by offering products made from renewable, recycled, compostable and plastic-free raw materials.”
As such the company has launched a number of sustainable options for the household market. In sync with this strategy, Suominen has introduced products such as Biolace Pure, a 100% plant-based product with superior cleaning power. The development of this innovative material with excellent liquid management and cleaning properties is based on Suominen’s long history and know-how in producing pulp-based products. Another sustainable household product launched is Biolace Bamboo, also with superior cleaning power. As the name indicates, the main raw material used in Biolace bamboo consists of bamboo—a perennial grass that is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. The speed of its re-growth after harvesting makes it a considerable alternative for use in place of other renewable raw materials.