Karen McIntyre, Editor04.06.22
The surge in demand for medical fabrics and other personal protective equipment has led to a surge in demand for spunmelt nonwovens globally in 2020. This led to a period of strong investment for manufacturers globally. New lines announced in 2020-2021 largely centered around Reicofil 5 technology, offering high capacity, increased capacity and greater flexibility. These lines not only respond to increase demand for spunmelt nonwovens, but in some cases are replacing older capacity.
As the industry waits for these new lines to come onstream and reach commercialization, the number of new lines being announced globally has tapered off. However, makers of spunmelt nonwovens continue to innovate to offer differentiation to their products.
“This partnership enables both YanJan and Avgol to diversify our overall product ranges and to push effectively into new market opportunities,” says Jian Weng, president and general manager of YanJan USA LLC, based in Statesville, NC.
“This is in an exciting partnership for our companies,” says Ronnie Batchler, vice president, Americas Region at Avgol. “The spunbond ‘precursor’ material will be specifically designed to meet customer specifications and deliver optimum performance. Aperturing of the spunbond will then give the nonwoven material additional unique attributes, such as improved physical performance and aesthetic appeal.
“Avgol will also be able to utilize its North American sales force to promote the new products more actively, as well as making YanJan’s complete product catalog available to the broader industry,” he adds.
In North America, Avgol operates a spunmelt manufacturing facility in Mocksville, NC. Additionally, the company has sites in China, Israel, India and Russia.
In Russia, Avgol announced last year a three-tier investment to enhance its role in existing markets and help it expand into new areas. The largest part of the investment is the addition of a high-speed, high-capacity flexible Reicofil 5 production line, which will provide greater production capacity for growing regional markets and support the release of new Avgol technologies, according Tommi Bjornman, CEO of Avgol.
“Serving the growing baby diaper, adult incontinence and feminine hygiene markets along with satisfying sustained demand for meltblown filtration and medical materials, this investment enables Avgol to deliver an improved degree of service across the entire area while consolidating and strengthening our existing position,” he says.
Avgol offers a comprehensive range of ultra-lightweight spunmelt nonwoven fabrics to the global hygiene market. The latest investment, Avgol’s third line in Russia, will include biocomponent and corresponding high-loft capabilities thus producing materials for applications that meet the needs of upper tier products for hygiene customers.
In addition to the R5 line, Avgol will add a meltblown line as well as a new line offering cutting-edge lamination capabilities at the Russia site. These investments will not only enhance Avgol’s offerings to its existing markets but will also allow it to explore new opportunities in other markets.
Meanwhile, in India Avgol has recently relocated an existing asset from Israel to India as part of an immediate strategic investment in the region. The move is part of the company’s commitment to continue increasing its presence and service across India and South Asia, according to CEO Shachar Rachim.
“This strategic move positions our line rapidly at the heart of the local market,” says Rachim. “There is a huge domestic demand for hygiene products in India and across the Southeast Asia region but there are heavy tariffs on importing materials. The demand is already at 165% against local supply capacity. Our projections show that through regional organic growth, improved promotion of feminine health, and increased awareness of hygiene because of the coronavirus pandemic, demand is only going to increase.”
Avgol entered the market in India in 2018 when it completed its first spunmelt line, which was reported at the time to be a non-Reicofil asset. At the time, the company said the investment was intended to help support existing customers as they entered the Indian market.
The company is able to make these materials thanks to the addition of a three-dimensional embossing line in its Biesheim, France, facility. This investment responded to a growing need for products with high levels of softness and comfort.
The 3D technology, combined with Berry’s premium, soft nonwoven solutions can deliver advanced fluid management and skin comfort, as well as enhance cushioning and lofty performance. This new embossed material will be used in the manufacturing of diapers, adult incontinence and feminine care products.
“It has been a fantastic journey, from the installation of our 3D line in Biesheim, France, to the launch of Suavis 3D and I’m proud of this new platform of premium nonwovens clearly addressing the need for softness and cushioning,” reports Vincenzo D’Acchioli, marketing director at Berry Global.
Meanwhile, in expansion news, Berry is underway with an investment in a Reicofil 5 SMS line in China to serve the rapidly growing medical fabrics markets in the region and around the globe. Start-up of the line is targeted for late 2022. Additionally, Berry recently invested $8 million in new equipment and enhancements to existing production lines at its Statesville, NC, site, to further optimize its production of in-demand spunmelt for applications including fabrication of medical gowns, face masks, and other personal protection equipment.
“We have seen unprecedented demand in every region around the world fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic in addition to organic growth in healthcare, hygiene and some specialty market segments,” says David Parks, EVP, Global Marketing, Strategy & Business Development at Berry Global. “The Covid-19 pandemic multiplied the normal demand for medical fabrics and accelerated use in underpenetrated markets and regions. The amplified healthcare demand caused shifts in asset utilization from hygiene to healthcare which tightened the supply/demand balance for hygiene materials. Face mask and N95 respirator demand alone created significant increases for meltblown and spunbond materials used to make those products, in addition to SMS materials used for other infection control PPE products.”
In addition to significantly expanding capacity to support growing market needs, these investments, combined with Berry’s market leading know-how and proprietary raw material blends, will expand the company’s portfolio of the highest quality and highest performing materials in the market, which provide consumers with improved visual, tactile and comfort attributes.
“At Berry, we are constantly pushing the envelope of spunmelt development to deliver the tactile, aesthetic and barrier performance needs of our customers and the end-user products they produce. Berry works collaboratively with key customers to align on and deliver product improvements, and also works independently to bring to market ‘new to the world’ innovations,” says Robert Weilminster, EVP & GM – U.S. and Canada, Hygiene.
“Both of our business areas – nonwovens and print on nonwovens – are experiencing an increase in demand for specialty products and services,” says Mikael Staal Axelsen, CEO. “We have a strong position in these markets due to our portfolio. Combined with a steady growth in the Asian market, rising demand for print in the American market, and a changed market dynamic caused by Covid-19 makes the timing of the expansions just right.”
Outside of the recent investments, Fibertex Personal Care operates five lines at two sites in Malaysia, which make about 90,000 tons of spunmelt nonwovens capacity. Its most recent line came onstream in mid-2017. Increased wealth and growth in the Asian middle class segment is leading to growth in the hygiene market of approximately 10%.
According to Martin Holten, commercial director, Malaysia, the new line is based on the latest technology and includes the most recent advances in energy efficiency, which will help the company to achieve its corporate sustainability goals.
In other news, Fibertex Personal Care is making spunmelt nonwovens using Sabic’s circular polypropylene, using feedstock derived from previously used plastics, certified under the ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) system. The material is part of the Sabic Purecares portfolio of polypropylene for personal hygiene applications that was introduced in 2020. The certified circular polypropylene material produced by Sabic is created from post-consumer mixed plastics that have been broken down into their molecular building blocks and then re-polymerized to create virgin plastics. The new material can be used as a drop-in solution while meeting the brand owner’s requirements for purity and consumer safety for the hygiene industry applications.
Fibertex Personal Care is providing certified circular nonwovens to its customers with its Comfort, Elite, Dual and Loft product range. These certified nonwovens can be adopted in downstream processes, without compromising convertibility, product properties or performance of the final product.
“This line will be a state-of-the art machine capable of serving the growing demand for sustainable spunmelt products,” says Michael Baumgartner, Fitesa’s senior vice president for Europe & China. “Once the machine is online, we will ramp up production from our pilot lines which significantly increases our ability to supply the market with softer products and increases circular and green content produced locally in Europe.”
According to Fernanda Gastal, Fitesa’s vice president of Procurement and Marketing and head of the company’s ESG Committee: “This investment is part of our strategic direction that will contribute to change the sustainability profile of the spunmelt industry. It should be seen as one of three pillars where we believe we can make a significant impact: innovative technology offering, environmentally friendly raw materials and reduction of GHG emissions in our operations.”
Fitesa is also adding a Reicofil 5 line in Simpsonville, SC, which was announced in early 2021 and should be complete by the end of the year, as well as a multibeam Reicofil line in Cosmopolis, Brazil, which will make the site one of the most advanced spunmelt operations in the region. This Brazilian investment is part of a global expansion program, which will add 55,000 tons of capacity to the global output. The remainder of the capacity largely centers around meltblown materials with new lines in Italy, Germany, Brazil and South Carolina as well as additional spunmelt capacity from optimized production lines.
In 2020, the company acquired a spunbond manufacturing site in Wuxi, China, from PFNonwovens. This has allowed the company not just to expand its capacity but also to enter the medical market.
Just five months after acquiring the site, Jofo already began construction on a second spunbond line there.
“The acquisition of PFN Wuxi made us enter the medical nonwoven fabric market, and then the acquisition of SAAF made us become an important nonwoven fabric manufacturer in the world, a competitive player in the world nonwoven fabric market and the largest medium and high-end manufacturer of medical nonwoven fabrics,” CEO Rain Tian says.
Having an operating site outside of China is also allowing the company to shorten its supply chain to its international customer bases. “Global expansion has brought great advantages of global geography to our strategy. The global layout makes our global supply chain service more efficient and convenient, while reducing transportation costs,” Tian says.
In addition to the Wuxi site, a second acquisition—a spunbond operation in Saudi Arabia—is helping Jofo increase its role in the global medical and hygiene markets while expanding its global footprint. In July, Jofo purchased a 70% stake in Saudi Arabia Advanced Fabrics (SAAF) including two nonwovens manufacturing sites in Saudi Arabia.
“We are the first company to invest in the latest Reicofil R5 machinery in South Africa, and this exciting expansion will not only localize manufacturing, it will also allow for more sustainable and flexible production which is required to meet the growing needs of both our global and local clients,” says Wilhelm Cronje, director for PFN South Africa. “The Western Cape is a natural choice to base the company’s African expansion, with a world class infrastructure and access to the rest of the continent.”
The new capacity is planned for the end of 2022.
PFN established the South African site in 2017 with a $90 million investment. With this latest investment, PFN’s market leading position as the largest spunmelt producer in the hygiene market in South Africa will be reinforced.
PFNonwovens recently celebrated the completion of a new line at its North American Center of Excellence in Hazleton, PA, where it will soon add another new line, and has a semi-commercial R5 in operation in the Czech Republic. The first North American line centers around a Reicofil 5 spunmelt line, which will be up and running in the second half of this year. Additionally, PFNonwovens has turned the Hazleton site, which it acquired with First Quality Nonwovens, into a North American center of excellence for its nonwovens business.
“Hazelton is at the forefront of delivering superior products for the hygiene and medical markets. This state-of-the-art investment will help us to achieve a level of softness and sustainability we have not seen before,” says CEO Cedric Ballay.
“The line will feature two proprietary technologies—in order to produce revolutionary, cottony-soft, ultra high loft and textured products for the North American market,” says Shane Vincent, chief commercial officer.
In December 2020, PFN announced the second phase of investment in Hazleton, saying at the time that a second line would be added at the site, however no additional details have been released.
Additionally, the company continues to ramp up recently completed investments in the Czech Republic. At its site in Znojmo, PFN has completed a semi-commercial Reicofil 5 line, which is used for commercial projects but also for research and development.
“Investing in Reicofil 5 technology throughout our sites globally makes sense because diaper premiumization and demand for more sustainable products requires this technology,” Ballay says.
“Innovation is something we spend a lot of time on and this line is a fantastic tool for that,” Tonny De Beer, chief technology officer, adds. “It has the potential to make products that are unrivalled today in the market and we have not yet reached its limits. There is much more potential in improving softness, loft and the ability to run sustainable materials.”
Also in Znojmo, PFNonwovens has recently added capabilities to offer apertured and three-dimensional embossed fabrics for hygiene and medical applications. These products offer more tailored solutions to specific customers in a more flexible way.
As the industry waits for these new lines to come onstream and reach commercialization, the number of new lines being announced globally has tapered off. However, makers of spunmelt nonwovens continue to innovate to offer differentiation to their products.
Avgol
Last month, spunmelt manufacturer Avgol announced it has partnered with YanJan USA LLC, a professional material supplier to the disposable hygiene products market, to deliver exclusive product offerings to the North American market. Under the terms of the new partnership, Avgol will be offering apertured spunbond products made exclusively by YanJan USA using its specific know-how and capabilities. YanJan USA will obtain the base spunbond materials exclusively from Avgol. The partners will each develop and manufacture products tailored to each company’s skill set and to meet customer needs.“This partnership enables both YanJan and Avgol to diversify our overall product ranges and to push effectively into new market opportunities,” says Jian Weng, president and general manager of YanJan USA LLC, based in Statesville, NC.
“This is in an exciting partnership for our companies,” says Ronnie Batchler, vice president, Americas Region at Avgol. “The spunbond ‘precursor’ material will be specifically designed to meet customer specifications and deliver optimum performance. Aperturing of the spunbond will then give the nonwoven material additional unique attributes, such as improved physical performance and aesthetic appeal.
“Avgol will also be able to utilize its North American sales force to promote the new products more actively, as well as making YanJan’s complete product catalog available to the broader industry,” he adds.
In North America, Avgol operates a spunmelt manufacturing facility in Mocksville, NC. Additionally, the company has sites in China, Israel, India and Russia.
In Russia, Avgol announced last year a three-tier investment to enhance its role in existing markets and help it expand into new areas. The largest part of the investment is the addition of a high-speed, high-capacity flexible Reicofil 5 production line, which will provide greater production capacity for growing regional markets and support the release of new Avgol technologies, according Tommi Bjornman, CEO of Avgol.
“Serving the growing baby diaper, adult incontinence and feminine hygiene markets along with satisfying sustained demand for meltblown filtration and medical materials, this investment enables Avgol to deliver an improved degree of service across the entire area while consolidating and strengthening our existing position,” he says.
Avgol offers a comprehensive range of ultra-lightweight spunmelt nonwoven fabrics to the global hygiene market. The latest investment, Avgol’s third line in Russia, will include biocomponent and corresponding high-loft capabilities thus producing materials for applications that meet the needs of upper tier products for hygiene customers.
In addition to the R5 line, Avgol will add a meltblown line as well as a new line offering cutting-edge lamination capabilities at the Russia site. These investments will not only enhance Avgol’s offerings to its existing markets but will also allow it to explore new opportunities in other markets.
Meanwhile, in India Avgol has recently relocated an existing asset from Israel to India as part of an immediate strategic investment in the region. The move is part of the company’s commitment to continue increasing its presence and service across India and South Asia, according to CEO Shachar Rachim.
“This strategic move positions our line rapidly at the heart of the local market,” says Rachim. “There is a huge domestic demand for hygiene products in India and across the Southeast Asia region but there are heavy tariffs on importing materials. The demand is already at 165% against local supply capacity. Our projections show that through regional organic growth, improved promotion of feminine health, and increased awareness of hygiene because of the coronavirus pandemic, demand is only going to increase.”
Avgol entered the market in India in 2018 when it completed its first spunmelt line, which was reported at the time to be a non-Reicofil asset. At the time, the company said the investment was intended to help support existing customers as they entered the Indian market.
Berry Global
Recent news from the world’s largest nonwovens producer, Berry Global, includes the development of a three-dimensional embossed nonwoven, Suavis 3D, addressing what is expected to meet the growing premium market demand for high levels of softness and comfort. Suavis 3D technology allows for enhanced softness and cushioning of the company’s nonwoven solutions for hygiene applications, offers visually appealing embossing patterns as well as the opportunity to deliver a premium experience to the end consumer.The company is able to make these materials thanks to the addition of a three-dimensional embossing line in its Biesheim, France, facility. This investment responded to a growing need for products with high levels of softness and comfort.
The 3D technology, combined with Berry’s premium, soft nonwoven solutions can deliver advanced fluid management and skin comfort, as well as enhance cushioning and lofty performance. This new embossed material will be used in the manufacturing of diapers, adult incontinence and feminine care products.
“It has been a fantastic journey, from the installation of our 3D line in Biesheim, France, to the launch of Suavis 3D and I’m proud of this new platform of premium nonwovens clearly addressing the need for softness and cushioning,” reports Vincenzo D’Acchioli, marketing director at Berry Global.
Meanwhile, in expansion news, Berry is underway with an investment in a Reicofil 5 SMS line in China to serve the rapidly growing medical fabrics markets in the region and around the globe. Start-up of the line is targeted for late 2022. Additionally, Berry recently invested $8 million in new equipment and enhancements to existing production lines at its Statesville, NC, site, to further optimize its production of in-demand spunmelt for applications including fabrication of medical gowns, face masks, and other personal protection equipment.
“We have seen unprecedented demand in every region around the world fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic in addition to organic growth in healthcare, hygiene and some specialty market segments,” says David Parks, EVP, Global Marketing, Strategy & Business Development at Berry Global. “The Covid-19 pandemic multiplied the normal demand for medical fabrics and accelerated use in underpenetrated markets and regions. The amplified healthcare demand caused shifts in asset utilization from hygiene to healthcare which tightened the supply/demand balance for hygiene materials. Face mask and N95 respirator demand alone created significant increases for meltblown and spunbond materials used to make those products, in addition to SMS materials used for other infection control PPE products.”
In addition to significantly expanding capacity to support growing market needs, these investments, combined with Berry’s market leading know-how and proprietary raw material blends, will expand the company’s portfolio of the highest quality and highest performing materials in the market, which provide consumers with improved visual, tactile and comfort attributes.
“At Berry, we are constantly pushing the envelope of spunmelt development to deliver the tactile, aesthetic and barrier performance needs of our customers and the end-user products they produce. Berry works collaboratively with key customers to align on and deliver product improvements, and also works independently to bring to market ‘new to the world’ innovations,” says Robert Weilminster, EVP & GM – U.S. and Canada, Hygiene.
Fibertex Personal Care
Fibertex Personal Care has invested approximately $40 million to add new lines at its sites in Malaysia and the U.S. The Malaysian site will be expanded with the addition of a specialty nonwovens line while a printing line will be added to the U.S. site in Asheboro, NC. Both lines began operation late last year.“Both of our business areas – nonwovens and print on nonwovens – are experiencing an increase in demand for specialty products and services,” says Mikael Staal Axelsen, CEO. “We have a strong position in these markets due to our portfolio. Combined with a steady growth in the Asian market, rising demand for print in the American market, and a changed market dynamic caused by Covid-19 makes the timing of the expansions just right.”
Outside of the recent investments, Fibertex Personal Care operates five lines at two sites in Malaysia, which make about 90,000 tons of spunmelt nonwovens capacity. Its most recent line came onstream in mid-2017. Increased wealth and growth in the Asian middle class segment is leading to growth in the hygiene market of approximately 10%.
According to Martin Holten, commercial director, Malaysia, the new line is based on the latest technology and includes the most recent advances in energy efficiency, which will help the company to achieve its corporate sustainability goals.
In other news, Fibertex Personal Care is making spunmelt nonwovens using Sabic’s circular polypropylene, using feedstock derived from previously used plastics, certified under the ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) system. The material is part of the Sabic Purecares portfolio of polypropylene for personal hygiene applications that was introduced in 2020. The certified circular polypropylene material produced by Sabic is created from post-consumer mixed plastics that have been broken down into their molecular building blocks and then re-polymerized to create virgin plastics. The new material can be used as a drop-in solution while meeting the brand owner’s requirements for purity and consumer safety for the hygiene industry applications.
Fibertex Personal Care is providing certified circular nonwovens to its customers with its Comfort, Elite, Dual and Loft product range. These certified nonwovens can be adopted in downstream processes, without compromising convertibility, product properties or performance of the final product.
Fitesa Nonwovens
In October, Fitesa announced the next step in its ambitious investment program—a new multibeam Reicofil line in Europe with start-up planned in the second quarter of 2023. The new machine will be installed in one of Fitesa’s current facilities in the region and will be equipped to produce Full High Loft and standard spunmelt products, using a variety of sustainable raw materials including bioPE and PLA.“This line will be a state-of-the art machine capable of serving the growing demand for sustainable spunmelt products,” says Michael Baumgartner, Fitesa’s senior vice president for Europe & China. “Once the machine is online, we will ramp up production from our pilot lines which significantly increases our ability to supply the market with softer products and increases circular and green content produced locally in Europe.”
According to Fernanda Gastal, Fitesa’s vice president of Procurement and Marketing and head of the company’s ESG Committee: “This investment is part of our strategic direction that will contribute to change the sustainability profile of the spunmelt industry. It should be seen as one of three pillars where we believe we can make a significant impact: innovative technology offering, environmentally friendly raw materials and reduction of GHG emissions in our operations.”
Fitesa is also adding a Reicofil 5 line in Simpsonville, SC, which was announced in early 2021 and should be complete by the end of the year, as well as a multibeam Reicofil line in Cosmopolis, Brazil, which will make the site one of the most advanced spunmelt operations in the region. This Brazilian investment is part of a global expansion program, which will add 55,000 tons of capacity to the global output. The remainder of the capacity largely centers around meltblown materials with new lines in Italy, Germany, Brazil and South Carolina as well as additional spunmelt capacity from optimized production lines.
Jofo Nonwovens
Jofo Nonwovens has increased its sales through acquisition and investment both in its local market as well as globally.In 2020, the company acquired a spunbond manufacturing site in Wuxi, China, from PFNonwovens. This has allowed the company not just to expand its capacity but also to enter the medical market.
Just five months after acquiring the site, Jofo already began construction on a second spunbond line there.
“The acquisition of PFN Wuxi made us enter the medical nonwoven fabric market, and then the acquisition of SAAF made us become an important nonwoven fabric manufacturer in the world, a competitive player in the world nonwoven fabric market and the largest medium and high-end manufacturer of medical nonwoven fabrics,” CEO Rain Tian says.
Having an operating site outside of China is also allowing the company to shorten its supply chain to its international customer bases. “Global expansion has brought great advantages of global geography to our strategy. The global layout makes our global supply chain service more efficient and convenient, while reducing transportation costs,” Tian says.
In addition to the Wuxi site, a second acquisition—a spunbond operation in Saudi Arabia—is helping Jofo increase its role in the global medical and hygiene markets while expanding its global footprint. In July, Jofo purchased a 70% stake in Saudi Arabia Advanced Fabrics (SAAF) including two nonwovens manufacturing sites in Saudi Arabia.
PFNonwovens
In June 2021, PFNonwovens announced it would expand its operations in Cape Town, South Africa, with a $40 million investment which will significantly expand capacity at the operation. The investment will include a new Reicofil 5 spunmelt line to meet demand for high value and specialty products with increasing levels of softness, comfort and sustainability.“We are the first company to invest in the latest Reicofil R5 machinery in South Africa, and this exciting expansion will not only localize manufacturing, it will also allow for more sustainable and flexible production which is required to meet the growing needs of both our global and local clients,” says Wilhelm Cronje, director for PFN South Africa. “The Western Cape is a natural choice to base the company’s African expansion, with a world class infrastructure and access to the rest of the continent.”
The new capacity is planned for the end of 2022.
PFN established the South African site in 2017 with a $90 million investment. With this latest investment, PFN’s market leading position as the largest spunmelt producer in the hygiene market in South Africa will be reinforced.
PFNonwovens recently celebrated the completion of a new line at its North American Center of Excellence in Hazleton, PA, where it will soon add another new line, and has a semi-commercial R5 in operation in the Czech Republic. The first North American line centers around a Reicofil 5 spunmelt line, which will be up and running in the second half of this year. Additionally, PFNonwovens has turned the Hazleton site, which it acquired with First Quality Nonwovens, into a North American center of excellence for its nonwovens business.
“Hazelton is at the forefront of delivering superior products for the hygiene and medical markets. This state-of-the-art investment will help us to achieve a level of softness and sustainability we have not seen before,” says CEO Cedric Ballay.
“The line will feature two proprietary technologies—in order to produce revolutionary, cottony-soft, ultra high loft and textured products for the North American market,” says Shane Vincent, chief commercial officer.
In December 2020, PFN announced the second phase of investment in Hazleton, saying at the time that a second line would be added at the site, however no additional details have been released.
Additionally, the company continues to ramp up recently completed investments in the Czech Republic. At its site in Znojmo, PFN has completed a semi-commercial Reicofil 5 line, which is used for commercial projects but also for research and development.
“Investing in Reicofil 5 technology throughout our sites globally makes sense because diaper premiumization and demand for more sustainable products requires this technology,” Ballay says.
“Innovation is something we spend a lot of time on and this line is a fantastic tool for that,” Tonny De Beer, chief technology officer, adds. “It has the potential to make products that are unrivalled today in the market and we have not yet reached its limits. There is much more potential in improving softness, loft and the ability to run sustainable materials.”
Also in Znojmo, PFNonwovens has recently added capabilities to offer apertured and three-dimensional embossed fabrics for hygiene and medical applications. These products offer more tailored solutions to specific customers in a more flexible way.
