During the last couple of years, the annual top companies report has signifi cantly increased its global footprint, including more companies from outside the developed regions of North America, Western Europe and Japan. In fact, 10 years ago, there were only two companies—Avgol in Israel and Companhia Providencia in Brazil—based in developing regions. This year, there are 11, two of which are included among the world’s top 10 producers. And, many—if not all—of the companies based in more developed areas have spent the last decade upping their exposure in places like China, the Middle East/Africa and Latin America.

This globalization trend was shown this year through the number of new companies who are based in developing countries. Hong Kong’s CECEP and China’s Dailan Ruigang, appear in the ranking for the fi rst time thanks to information supplied by Xiang Yang of CNTA. Also new this year is Gulsan Group, the second Turkish company to be included. In addition to its Turkey operation, Gulsan is expanding into the MENA region with a new site in Egypt.

Also this year, we welcome Bonar, who replaces Colbond (the two sister companies merged last year), and TWE Group to the report. TWE purchased the European business (Libeltex) of Vita Nonwovens in late 2012, improving its European scope.

Beyond globalization, another trend we saw was a leveling off of investment. After a few years of incredible expansion, particularly in the spunmelt and spunbond markets, most companies are relying on a wait-and-see investment strategy, taking time to see if all of the capacity that has come onstream in the last three years will be absorbed by the market. That’s not to say, of course, that the shifts in sales are behind us. Several companies saw large investments come onstream in late 2012 and early 2013 and these lines will infl uence sales in coming years. Some lines, announced a few years ago, haven’t even come up yet!

The Top Companies profi led in this issue are ranked in terms of their 2012 sales (in U.S. dollars). Sales fi gures are taken from a variety of sources including public documents, company statements, as well as industry estimates, and then converted to U.S. dollars at www.oanda.com. They are only intended to be a guide. The real value of this report is the company profi les, which are taken from interviews with key nonwovens industry executives and provide relevant information about the largest players in the industry. Nonwovens Industry strives to make the report as comprehensive as possible. If you know of a company you think should be included in this ranking next year, please contact us at nonwovens@rodmanmedia.com.

2012 Nonwovens Sales

Click on the Company Name below to view the complete profile.

1   Freudenberg	$1.50 billion
2   Dupont	$1.35 billion
3   Ahlstrom	$1.30 billion
4   Kimberly-Clark	$1.25 billion
5   Polymer Group, Inc. (PGI)	$1.15 billion
6   Fitesa	$712 million
7   Glatfelter	$683 million
8   Johns Manville	$670 million
9   Suominen	$602 million
10 Fiberweb	$460 million
11 TWE Group	$400 million
12 Bonar	$379 million
13 Sandler	$326 million
14 Avgol Nonwovens	$315 million
15 Hollingsworth & Vose	$305 million
16 Companhia Providencia	$273 million
17 CECEP Costin New Materials Group	$256 million
18 Toray Advanced Materials	$251 million
19 First Quality Nonwovens	$250 million
20 Pegas Nonwovens	$248 million
21 Fibertex Personal Care	$235 million
22 Buckeye Technologies	$228 million
23 Japan Vilene	$209 million
24 Asahi Kasei	$201 million
25 Union Industries	$189 million
26 Mitsui Chemicals	$183 million
27 Jacob Holm Industries	$171 million
28 Fibertex Nonwovens	$161 million
29 Gulsan	$160 million
30 Georgia-Pacific	$155 million
31 Tenowo	$152 million
32 Andrew Industries	$150 million
33 Hassan Group	$147 million
34 Precision Custom Coatings	$145 million
35 Propex Holdings	$140 million
35 Dalian Ruigang Nonwovens Group	$140 million
37 Toyobo	$129 million
38 Nan Liu Enterprise	$128 million
39 Spuntech Industries	$127 million
40 Jofo Nonwovens	$125 million
41 Lydall	$118 million