09.11.20
In 2019, things seemed to be slowing down in the nonwovens industry. After a few years of ambitious investment as well as some pretty aggressive merger and acquisition activity, last year many of the major makers of nonwovens seemed to be taking time to evaluate their assets and focusing on innovation. This has meant that there wasn’t too many major changes in the rankings in this year’s top companies report. No one new was added and no one dropped out.
Of course, 2020 has been a completely different story. As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the globe during the first and second quarters of 2020, nonwovens producers swiftly mobilized adding capacity and shifting their focus to technologies and products to help stop the spread of the virus.
In fact, many industry experts are saying that the level of investment in and demand for nonwovens is unprecedented. It is finally the industry’s time to shine as world leaders spotlight the fabrics that go into face masks, surgical gowns and other personal protective equipment.
This has led nonwovens producers who have never before been involved in face masks and medical gowns to quickly reallocate assets. Construction specialist Johns Manville has set up production of medical gowns and face masks in North America; Fitesa is rumored to be adding a meltblown asset; Tenowo’s U.S. site applied technology normally used in automotives to medical gown production.
Also, companies with experience in these markets have significantly boosted their capacity. Berry Global has not only boosted its meltblown capacity on four continents, it has also forward integrated into face mask production with the installation of nine lines globally. DuPont has launched a program that not only has improved its Tyvek nonwovens for protective gowns but partnered with converters to help make them more quickly. Jacob Holm partnered with Under Armour to make medical gowns and masks for first responders, boosting its output so significantly that the company announced a global investment program. Filtration specialist Lydall, with the help of the U.S. Department of Defense, is adding two meltblown lines in Rochester, NH, to supply the facial mask market.
The list goes on and the nonwovens industry is going to face a level of expansion not seen before as these new lines come onstream across the globe. While they will initially target demand for PPE caused not just by this current pandemic but also governments’ calls to stockpile these items for future situations. Still, this level of demand can’t go on forever so it will eventually be up to these companies to find new uses and markets for these fabrics. If the past is any indicator, nonwovens producers will meet this call.
By the Numbers
This year’s top companies report includes 40 nonwovens producers located around the world. While many of the leading companies are based in established markets like the U.S. and Western Europe, companies from less developed areas are increasing their role. This year, there are companies based in many developing countries like Brazil, Turkey, China, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. As companies in these emerging markets continue to grow, surely we will see their ranking positions climb in future years.
As is always the case, each company in this survey is ranked on the basis of their 2019 sales, which were translated from local currencies into U.S. dollars using the yearly average. Many economic factors like exchange rates and raw material pricing can skew the ranking so, while ranking companies by sales is necessary to the nature of this report, it is really the activities of these companies—as reported in their profiles—that should be considered. All sales figures were provided by the companies except in some cases, such as Kimberly-Clark, Saudi German Nonwovens, and Johns Manville, which were estimated.
Karen McIntyre, Editor
kmcintyre@rodmanmedia.com
2019 International Top Companies
1. Berry Global $2.45 billion
2. Freudenberg Performance Materials $2.17 billion
3. Ahlstrom-Munksjö $1.4 billion
4. Kimberly-Clark $1.3 billion
5. DuPont $1 billion
6. Fitesa $980 million
7. Glatfelter $930 million
8. Lydall $837 million
9. Toray Inc. $801 million
10. Johns Manville $725 million
11. PFNonwovens $550 million
12. Suominen $491 million
13. TWE Group $475 million
14. Low & Bonar $441 million
15. Avgol $400 million
16. Zhejiang Kingsafe $385 million
17. Hollingsworth & Vose $377 million
18. Sandler $360 million
19. Jacob Holm $360 million
20. Fibertex Personal Care $348 million
21. Gulsan Group $275 million
22. Fibertex Nonwovens $269 million
23. Georgia-Pacific $250 million
24. Nan Liu Enterprise $238 million
25. Asahi Kasei $224 million
26. Mitsui Chemicals $218 million
27. Union Industries $192 million
28. Hassan Group $184 million
29. Spuntech $176 million
30. Xingtai Nonwovens $175 million
31. Dalian Ruiguang $146 million
32. Toyobo $146 million
33. KNH $145 million
34. Tenowo $138 million
35. Halyard Health $135 million
36. Mogul $133 million
37. Shalag Corporation $125 million
38. Saudi German Nonwovens $125 million
39. Jofo Nonwovens $108 million
40. Unitika $102 million
Of course, 2020 has been a completely different story. As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the globe during the first and second quarters of 2020, nonwovens producers swiftly mobilized adding capacity and shifting their focus to technologies and products to help stop the spread of the virus.
In fact, many industry experts are saying that the level of investment in and demand for nonwovens is unprecedented. It is finally the industry’s time to shine as world leaders spotlight the fabrics that go into face masks, surgical gowns and other personal protective equipment.
This has led nonwovens producers who have never before been involved in face masks and medical gowns to quickly reallocate assets. Construction specialist Johns Manville has set up production of medical gowns and face masks in North America; Fitesa is rumored to be adding a meltblown asset; Tenowo’s U.S. site applied technology normally used in automotives to medical gown production.
Also, companies with experience in these markets have significantly boosted their capacity. Berry Global has not only boosted its meltblown capacity on four continents, it has also forward integrated into face mask production with the installation of nine lines globally. DuPont has launched a program that not only has improved its Tyvek nonwovens for protective gowns but partnered with converters to help make them more quickly. Jacob Holm partnered with Under Armour to make medical gowns and masks for first responders, boosting its output so significantly that the company announced a global investment program. Filtration specialist Lydall, with the help of the U.S. Department of Defense, is adding two meltblown lines in Rochester, NH, to supply the facial mask market.
The list goes on and the nonwovens industry is going to face a level of expansion not seen before as these new lines come onstream across the globe. While they will initially target demand for PPE caused not just by this current pandemic but also governments’ calls to stockpile these items for future situations. Still, this level of demand can’t go on forever so it will eventually be up to these companies to find new uses and markets for these fabrics. If the past is any indicator, nonwovens producers will meet this call.
By the Numbers
This year’s top companies report includes 40 nonwovens producers located around the world. While many of the leading companies are based in established markets like the U.S. and Western Europe, companies from less developed areas are increasing their role. This year, there are companies based in many developing countries like Brazil, Turkey, China, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. As companies in these emerging markets continue to grow, surely we will see their ranking positions climb in future years.
As is always the case, each company in this survey is ranked on the basis of their 2019 sales, which were translated from local currencies into U.S. dollars using the yearly average. Many economic factors like exchange rates and raw material pricing can skew the ranking so, while ranking companies by sales is necessary to the nature of this report, it is really the activities of these companies—as reported in their profiles—that should be considered. All sales figures were provided by the companies except in some cases, such as Kimberly-Clark, Saudi German Nonwovens, and Johns Manville, which were estimated.
Karen McIntyre, Editor
kmcintyre@rodmanmedia.com
2019 International Top Companies
1. Berry Global $2.45 billion
2. Freudenberg Performance Materials $2.17 billion
3. Ahlstrom-Munksjö $1.4 billion
4. Kimberly-Clark $1.3 billion
5. DuPont $1 billion
6. Fitesa $980 million
7. Glatfelter $930 million
8. Lydall $837 million
9. Toray Inc. $801 million
10. Johns Manville $725 million
11. PFNonwovens $550 million
12. Suominen $491 million
13. TWE Group $475 million
14. Low & Bonar $441 million
15. Avgol $400 million
16. Zhejiang Kingsafe $385 million
17. Hollingsworth & Vose $377 million
18. Sandler $360 million
19. Jacob Holm $360 million
20. Fibertex Personal Care $348 million
21. Gulsan Group $275 million
22. Fibertex Nonwovens $269 million
23. Georgia-Pacific $250 million
24. Nan Liu Enterprise $238 million
25. Asahi Kasei $224 million
26. Mitsui Chemicals $218 million
27. Union Industries $192 million
28. Hassan Group $184 million
29. Spuntech $176 million
30. Xingtai Nonwovens $175 million
31. Dalian Ruiguang $146 million
32. Toyobo $146 million
33. KNH $145 million
34. Tenowo $138 million
35. Halyard Health $135 million
36. Mogul $133 million
37. Shalag Corporation $125 million
38. Saudi German Nonwovens $125 million
39. Jofo Nonwovens $108 million
40. Unitika $102 million
