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    Features

    Southeast Asia Report

    Nonwovens investments continue in this fast-growing region

    Southeast Asia Report
    Southeast Asia Report
    An acoustic panel made by TTN Nonwoven Solution Co, Ltd. The company’s new Tsulations brand offers sound absorbing products.
    Tara Olivo, Associate Editor11.08.21
    Southeast Asia has become one of the fastest growing regions in the world when it comes to the disposable absorbent hygiene products industry. Driving this growth are favorable demographics, increasing spending power, health awareness, rising product availability and low market penetration, making it an attractive market for both nonwovens producers and converters. Kimberly-Clark, Procter & Gamble, Unicharm and Kao are among the major hygiene manufacturers with converting capabilities in Southeast Asia.

    In fact, Kimberly-Clark completed a major acquisition in the region in October 2020. The multinational purchased Softex Indonesia, a leader in the Indonesian personal care market, in an all-cash transaction for approximately $1.2 billion.

    “This acquisition accelerates our growth with strong market share in key personal care categories across Southeast Asia’s largest economy,” Mike Hsu, chairman and CEO, Kimberly-Clark, said during the announcement. “As we move ahead, we will leverage our combined strengths in innovation and brand building while maintaining the local market expertise and advantages that Softex Indonesia has built with its strong portfolio of brands.”

    While approximately 80% of Softex Indonesia sales come from baby diapers—holding the No. 2 marketshare with the Sweety and Happy Nappy brands—the company holds the No. 3 share position in feminine care with the Softex brand. In adult care, it holds the No. 2 market share position with the Confidence brand.

    Hygiene maker Vinda is also optimistic about growth prospects in the region. Vinda Group Southeast Asia (Vinda SEA) launched the construction of its regional headquarters in Malaysia in 2019. The new site will comprise a double-story manufacturing plant with raw material warehouse, a finished goods warehouse, the Vinda Innovation Centre and a six-story administration block to be implemented in phases, in line with Vinda’s five-year plan.

    The regional hub will develop, manufacture, and/or market four different product categories, namely baby care, incontinence care, feminine care and tissue products. This facility will serve mainly the Southeast Asian market, and support sales to more than 25 countries, with Malaysia being the strongest market.

    The Vinda Innovation Centre has full in-house capabilities with a broad set of experts for innovation, product development and marketing. The center will also follow strict international standards for product development consistent with practices followed by Vinda China and Essity, which is the majority shareholder of Vinda International.

    The regional headquarters is expected to be completed early next year, while the manufacturing facilities and innovation center are progressing on schedule and are expected to be completed also in 2022. The operation of new production capacity will promote efficiency improvement and facilitate market expansion, laying a solid foundation for its future performance growth, according to the company.

    Meanwhile, Japanese hygiene manufacturer Unicharm is expecting strong demand for adult incontinence products in the region. According to the company’s Integrated Report 2021, the high-growth markets of Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan-Greater China and other countries in Southeast Asia are all facing the issue of an aging population, which is set to spur demand for adult incontinence care products.

    In September 2018, with the aim of further accelerating its global reach and achieving dramatic growth, Unicharm acquired shares of DSG (Cayman) Limited (DSGCL), which manufactures and sells baby diapers and adult diapers with bases in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

    DSGCL owns the Certainty brand of adult incontinence care products and has a strong market share and high name recognition in Southeast Asia. In addition to accelerating the spread of the Certainty brand throughout Thailand and Malaysia, Unicharm is working to reduce costs by expanding its product lineup, strengthening its market position and integrating operations, such as logistics functions.

    In Indonesia, Unicharm reports its market share in feminine care is increasing due to the development of high value-added products such as the cooling product segment and night-use napkins. Its share has risen to an all-time high of about 44% and remains in the No. 1 spot. In baby care, while the pandemic caused the market to shrink due to the lockdowns, Unicharm’s market share recovered to about 46% through the expansion of new sales channels with revamped products featuring enhanced functions. It has maintained a No. 1 spot, and it will continue to develop products that support a wide range of consumers, from economical products to standard and premium products, the company says.

    In Thailand, Unicharm reports that markets have shrunk due to the effects of lockdowns as a result of Covid-19. Amid consumers’ heightened consciousness of affordability, Unicharm developed high value-added products in feminine care and maintained a No. 1 market share of about 58%. In baby care, Covid-19 exacerbated the trend toward bipolarization between high value-added products and products that emphasize economical pricing. By taking advantage of its synergy with DSG and developing both the MamyPoko brand with high product strength and the affordable Baby Love brand, the company responded to a broad range of consumer needs and increased its market share to about 90%, maintaining its No. 1 spot.

    In Vietnam, meanwhile, as recovery from the impact of the pandemic becomes apparent, sales growth has exceeded the growth rate of the entire market through the aggressive rollout of cooling products in femcare, which offer a refreshing sensation, and revamped products with enhanced absorption functions. According to the company’s report, this has enabled it to maintain a No. 1 market share of about 54%. In baby care, as a result of its efforts to promote the spread of disposable pants-type baby diapers, the weight of pants-type diapers in the market rose to about 73%. With the recovery from Covid-19 gaining steam, its market share has increased to about 40% and continues to be No. 1 thanks to its revamped products featuring enhanced functionality.

    Nonwovens Production in Southeast Asia
    When looking at the continent of Asia overall, nonwovens production in Southeast Asia is quite small. According to statistics furnished by INDA, the association of the nonwoven fabrics industry, China accounted for 81% of the Asian production in 2020. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan accounted for another 9%, while India accounted for nearly another 6%.

    In INDA’s and EDANA’s recent study, “Global Nonwoven Markets Report, A Comprehensive Survey and Outlook, 2020-2025,” the remaining countries in Asia are categorized as “Other Asia.” The “Other Asia” region includes mainly Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, as well as smaller suppliers like Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. “The combined nonwovens production of these countries has nearly quadrupled in 10 years and was estimated at just over 400,000 tonnes in 2020,” says Brad Kalil, director of Market Intelligence & Economic Insights.

    In terms of trade, China exported nearly 1.4 million tons of nonwoven material in 2020, a little more than half (54%) was exported to other Asian countries. The two largest countries were South Korea and Japan, followed by Vietnam (120,100 tonnes), Indonesia (52,200 tonnes) and Cambodia (38,200 tonnes), according to the report. “So, while some of those countries have a developing nonwovens production base, they are also importing nonwoven material for conversion, or some of what is classified as a nonwoven material, may be a finished good, such as wipes,” Kalil adds.

    In Malaysia, Fibertex Personal Care is adding its sixth nonwovens line in the country, a Reicofil 5 with spunbond and meltblown capabilities, which will be in operation in early 2022. The company’s nameplate capacity in Malaysia with the new line is approximately 100,000 tons/year.

    “The Asia market continues to grow and we plan to further strengthen our position here in the years to come,” says Peter Andersen, CEO, Malaysia, Fibertex Personal Care / Innowo Print. “With our central location here in Malaysia we are well situated to supply all of Asia.”

    Fibertex Personal Care considers the increased effluence and use of disposable diapers to be the main growth driver in the region. “We are very optimistic about the future of our industry and our business in Southeast Asia and will continue to invest in innovation and sustainable growth,” Andersen adds.

    Oceancash is also investing in Malaysia. The company announced last year it was doubling its production capacity for nonwoven materials used in the production of personal protective equipment (PPE). The Malaysian company manufactures and sells air-through bonded nonwovens and thermal bonded nonwovens, which is widely used in disposable hygiene products. The investment will double Oceancash’s capacity to 16,000 tons per year.

    “We observed that demand for nonwoven materials has accelerated during this Covid-19 pandemic as nonwoven is a key raw material used in the production of PPE. We believe that this pandemic is an opportune time for such an expansion,” Oceancash general manager Lor Seng Thee said at the time of the announcement. “We are confident that this plan will mark a new major milestone for the group with very strong potential to raise the growth trajectory of our earnings.”

    Lor says the new expansion involves a major upgrade in production technology, which will allow the company to make three-ply material for three-ply masks.

    “In addition, the nonwoven material from the new plant can be supplied to the disposable hygienic products industry, in which Oceancash already has a steady customer base,” says Lor, adding that the company believes the demand for hygiene products will continue to grow, given the improvement of standard of living as well as the higher hygiene awareness arising from this pandemic.

    Meanwhile, in Thailand, Fitesa completed work on a third spunmelt line at a site it acquired a majority stake in from CNC in 2018. The multi-beam Reicofil line at CNCFitesa in Rayong represented a reported $70 million investment from the Brazilian nonwovens manufacturer. Prior to the acquisition, CNC operated two spunmelt sites in Rayong as well as a sales office in Tokyo, from which it largely supplies the hygiene market.

    Also in Thailand, Japanese nonwovens producer Asahi Kasei is in the process of adding a new line capable of making 15,000 tons per year to its subsidiary Asahi Kasei Spunbond (Thailand) Co., Ltd (AKST). The company already makes 35,000 tons of polypropylene spunbond nonwovens per year. Since entering the spunbond business in 1973, Asahi Kasei has supplied Eltas spunbond for use in a wide variety of applications including disposable diapers and other hygiene products, automotive and other industrial applications and deodorizing sheets and other consumer products.

    AKST started operation of its second production line in 2016 to meet rapidly growing demand for spunbond for diaper applications in Asia. The third line will further reinforce AKST’s capability to meet ongoing demand growth with higher product performance, quality and cost competitiveness.

    Another arm of Asahi Kasei, Asahi Kasei Asia Pacific Co., Ltd. (AKAP), began operating in 2019 as Asahi Kasei’s regional headquarters for business in the ASEAN region.

    Asahi Kasei currently has 16 entities in five ASEAN countries. With its steady population growth and ongoing economic expansion, the company said ASEAN is not only an important region for manufacturing but is also becoming a key market. As economic activity continues to advance in this region of diverse languages, commercial customs and legal systems, regulatory requirements for business operations are advancing apace. It was therefore determined that a regional headquarters for Asahi Kasei Group operations in the ASEAN region would enable increasingly diverse and complex risks to be effectively managed.

    Located in Bangkok, Thailand, AKAP contributes to further growth of the Asahi Kasei Group’s business in the ASEAN region through enhanced marketing and management functions while supporting the operations of each entity, advancing human resources development, facilitating coordination among the different entities and raising operational efficiency.

    Toray, another Japanese nonwovens producer, has production capacity of 231,000 tons per year in five Asian countries—Japan, Korea, China, India and Indonesia. In Indonesia, its capacity is 37,000 tons per year. The company mainly manufactures polypropylene spunbond for hygiene products, as well as polyester nonwoven fabrics for industrial filter use.

    The region is an important market for Toray because demand is still growing, according to Tatsu Matsushita, general manager, Performance Nonwoven Products Dept., Toray Industries, Inc., and the company is focusing on Indonesia because of its large population. “We believe that the performance of [the hygiene] market has a stable demand growth, and the growth drivers will be the large population and high birth rate,” Matsushita adds.

    At present, Toray is focusing on maximizing its sales based on existing production bases in Asia and India. “Toray group has an original know-how to prepare a number of items to fit each customer’s requirement by utilizing our technical advantage in each production site in Asia and India. We think a demand expansion itself is still there. Our way is to maximize advantage of our production network in Asia.”

    Toray has also started internal discussions to proceed in the next step of its expansion plan to consider this complicated market situation very carefully, Matsushita says.

    Meanwhile, in Thailand, nonwovens producer Thai Technical Nonwoven Co., Ltd., recently rebranded itself as TTN Nonwoven Solution Co, Ltd. (TTN). The name change is part of the CEO’s vision and business strategy as it enters the B2C market. The company will use its existing nonwovens to become a finished goods producer.

    TTN produces needlepunch and airlaid/thermobond technologies, with a current capacity of around 4 million square meters per month on 14 production lines. The company focuses on the automotive, footwear, geotextile, pet and interior design markets.

    TTN recently added a velour machine to provide an alternative choice for the automotive market, according to Jimmy Markus, international sales manager, TTN. It also recently added a CNC machine to make finished goods such as acoustic panels, acoustic walls, acoustic ceilings, pet houses, partitions, tableware, etc. Its brands Tsulations (sound absorbing products) and Tzimple (lifestyle products such as pet homes and other home products made of recycled materials) will penetrate both B2B and B2C markets.

    Markus says the Southeast Asian nonwovens market is getting more competitive because of several factors; the Tier 1 automotive suppliers have installed and produced nonwovens themselves, and some nonwovens makers from mainland China have invested in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. “This makes the price become very competitive,” he says.
    As far as supply and demand, he says supply has become higher than demand since more new players have entered the market.

    For the short-term, TTN’s strategy is to develop new products and more SKUs for its new business markets— acoustic panels, acoustic walls, acoustic ceilings, pet houses, partitions and tableware, and penetrating the B2C market through e-commerce. 

    In the long-term, TTN aims to promote in both domestic and international markets through digital marketing and is targeting the B2C market to build the awareness upon both the Tsulations and Tzimple  brands by finding reliable distributors and partners.
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