2019, The 40 Largest Nonwovens Producer.

The nonwovens industry has been integrated in 2017 and 2018, which means that some of our leading companies will appear in this year's report or appear in a new look next year.

Let's take a look at what companies in the world top 40 nonwovens manufacturers in 2019.

One of them is First Quality Nonwovens. The New York based company has factories in Pennsylvania and China. They were PFNo in June this year. Nwovens (formerly known as Pegas) acquisition. This will significantly enhance PFNonwovens's ranking and make it one of the ten largest nonwovens manufacturers in the world.

Glatfelter and Lydall are also ready to boost their rankings. Through the acquisition of Georgia-Pacific's European nonwovens business, Glatfelter's annual sales will increase by about $185 million next year, while Lydall will increase its annual sales through two acquisitions, namely, Interface and Precision Custom Coatings's filtering business. At the same time, the ranking of G-P and PCC will drop as they sell most of their businesses.

Avgol Nonwovens is also facing new changes. The Israeli manufacturer was acquired by chemical group Indorama in the spring of 2018. Although Avgol may continue to maintain high autonomy, how this new ownership change will affect its day-to-day operation will also look at the future development.

Some smaller acquisitions will also change the pattern of the industry. Fibertex Nonwovens continued to implement its globalization strategy through the acquisition of Duci company in Brazil, and Fitesa established its first Asian textile business through the acquisition of Thailand nonwovens manufacturer CNC International.

As in the past few years, investment is still an important theme of this year's report. Many companies are planning new production lines this year. In the spunbonded market, Berry Global is building production lines in China, Gulsan in Turkey, Toray and Avgol in India and Mitsui in China, and Glatfelter has recently added an airflow net production line in Arkansas. Suominen has built a large-scale wet line production line in North Carolina.

Whether through acquisitions or capital investment, these activities indicate that manufacturers are optimistic about the future of nonwovens. There are good reasons behind their confidence: with the existing application market attracting more and more consumers, and the new application areas are constantly emerging, the nonwovens market is continuing to grow at a global level.

This year's report includes 40 nonwovens manufacturers worldwide. Although many leading companies are located in mature markets such as the US and Western Europe, the power from developing regions is also increasing. This year, we have two Israel Corp, two Turkey Company and five companies in China and Taiwan, China. In addition, we have a Brazil company and a company based in Eastern Europe. As these emerging market companies continue to grow, we will surely see their rankings rising in the next few years.

However, the developed markets continue to attract attention. Mogul and Sandler's US business is growing, and TWE group is continuing to invest in the US business acquired from Vita Nonwovens a few years ago. Although the pace of investment in Europe is somewhat slow, sales and sales of European companies are still growing.

As in previous years, the ranking is based on the sales volume of each company in 2016. For comparison purposes, all sales are converted from US currency to US dollars. Since exchange rate fluctuations will have a significant impact on the rankings, we should not stick to the rankings in looking at this report. We should focus on all the innovative initiatives and investments carried out by these companies. The sales figures listed in the form basically come from the data provided by the companies themselves. Besides Kimberly-Clark (Kimberly), Saudi German Nonwovens, First Quality and Johns Manville, the data of these companies are estimated based on the industry information.

I. Berry Global

Berry Global, the world's largest nonwovens manufacturer, has invested in several new production lines in recent months. In November 2018, the company announced that it will add a melted spray production line to produce efficient filtration media for the Asian market. "The filtering market is growing rapidly, and we are pleased to expand our capacity to meet the growth of market and demand. Investment in melt blown capacity will strengthen our leading position in the market of filtration solutions. " Scott Tracey, President of Berry's HHS business, said.

Also in China, Berry is investing in the field of spinning and melting, which is a 20 thousand ton Reicofil5 spinning and melting line in the South China Sea. The new product line was announced in 2017 and is about to be completed. It will provide special and soft materials for the hygiene products in the Asia Pacific market. The production line will be commercialized in the fourth quarter. Robert Weilminster, President of North America, said: "the new Reicofil technology will enable us to better meet the needs of our customers through a wide range of products."

As one of the largest manufacturers of spun nonwovens in the world, it is also a leading manufacturer of various breathable and non breathable films. Berry can provide the most comprehensive product portfolio in the field of health products. "Our team can discuss non-woven fabrics and films in the dialogue with customers, which enables them to get a variety of breathability options." Weil Minster said.

In addition to spinning, Berry has recently completed the latest Spinlace production line in North Carolina. The technology uses advanced technology with patents to produce Spunlaced materials. The new production line will increase the capacity of the company by 17 thousand tons, mainly to meet the needs of the North American market for medical, health, household cleaning, food and industrial wipes. The combination of Spinlace and Apex technology enables Berry to directly customize three dimensional patterns on fabrics, thereby enhancing product performance, recognition or beauty, and ultimately enhancing brand differentiation.

Two, Freudenberg Performance Materials

Freudenberg is a company that has made many achievements in the field of non-woven fabrics. The company's business related to nonwovens belongs to three main sectors: codel high performance materials, CoDB filter technology and COD baby Ling nonwovens. The total sales volume of these three businesses in 2018 amounted to about US $2 billion 100 million.

The largest sector is the high tech material, which was merged by the nonwoven business and Texbond, a construction related company in 2014. They experienced a challenging 2018. Sales are negatively affected by exchange rates, and profits are also hit by rising raw material prices. The most recent investment of the Department is the new automobile ceiling production line in Suzhou, China. The production line was formally completed in March, enabling the company to meet the growing demand for high quality automobile roofs in China and Southeast Asia.

As we all know, hygiene products are Codbo's niche market. After the decision of its main customers in another direction, Codbo closed a factory related to health products business in Greetland, England at the end of 2018. John McNabb, chief technology officer, said: "the production line is very customized and cannot be modified. For us, the health market is a niche area, and we will not compete on a global scale. "

In the filtering business, the technology filter group acquired the leading supplier of China's air and water filtration market, Apollo environmental protection equipment Co., Ltd. The acquisition consolidates Codbo's leading position in China's fast-growing filtering market, which is developing rapidly with stricter regulations and enhanced environmental awareness.

On the whole, although the market environment is full of challenges, the technology filter group continued to maintain a sustainable and profitable growth path in 2018. In the industrial filtering business, attention to some market segments and China's strong demand for air purification filters has had a positive impact. Meanwhile, with the growth of sales in Europe and North America, the business of vehicle filtering for new car and parts replacement is also strong.

Back to codon's nonwovens business, the company continues to search for new applications for its continuous filament technology Evolon, which ushered in the 20th anniversary high gloss moment this year. Last year, Evolon released a new generation of technology using ultra microfilament, which is half the thickness of the original Evolon substrate and two times its density. This has opened up many new applications including bedding and technology packaging.

Three, Ahlstrom-Munksjo

Ahlstrom-Munksj o focuses on sustainability, and 92% of its business is related to natural fibers. Its nonwovens business is mainly for filtration, food and beverages, wall materials, medical and construction markets. According to the company, the demand for filter products in 2018 has been developing steadily around the world as the market for trucks and passenger cars continues to grow. Over the past year, due to stricter regulations and higher air quality standards, the company has released some new products and improved some products, so its business growth in the industrial sector has been particularly strong.

In June 2018, the company announced that it would invest about 28 million euros to expand capacity and enhance product performance, thereby developing filtering business. The project will be completed in the first half of 2020, including increasing the capacity of Turin plant in Italy, and rebuilding and upgrading Belgian and Swedish factories. The Turin plant in Italy is the largest plant in the world, and the new investment will enable it to meet the growing demand for high-end filter materials and further consolidate the company's leading platform advantage as the development and production of high-performance filtration materials. At the same time, improvements in Belgian and Swedish factories will enable them to develop unique filtering solutions for industrial applications.

Ahlstrom-Munksj's other nonwovens related business units are special materials business, including the company's food and beverage packaging and medical business. In 2018, the sector's sales amounted to 580 million euros.

Ahlstrom-Munksj's medical business, especially the high-performance barrier protection business, continues to maintain strong growth, while commercial sterilization packaging materials business also maintains a competitive advantage. Thanks to the expansion of the market and the trust of the existing customer base, 2018 was a successful year for the European sterilization packaging business of the company, showing a growth rate higher than the market level.

In the medical field, the company provides a series of products based on spunbonded technology. These products, besides basic performance, have other characteristics, such as antistatic property and alcohol resistance. Last fall, the company launched a new generation of BVB breathable virus barrier materials, which can be used in key areas of surgical gowns so that medical personnel can be kept safe and comfortable.

Four, Kimberly-Clark

In January 2018, Kimberly-Clark launched a global restructuring plan to reduce the company's structural cost and enhance its flexibility in brand investment and growth plans, which is one of its crucial capabilities to achieve future growth. The company expects the plan to save 5 to $550 million in pre tax costs by the end of 2021. As part of the plan, the company hopes to withdraw or divest some low profit businesses, which account for about 1% net sales of the company's revenue.

Known to be affected by the plan, including the nonwovens production base in Wisconsin, K-C will transfer production to other plants in North America. In addition, one of K-C's factories in Brazil (the absorbent sanitary product factory in Eldoradodo Sul, Brazil) will be closed and production will be transferred to other Brazil factories. Looking east, a factory that produces curious diapers in Australia's Ingleburn was closed this summer, and production will be transferred to factories in Asia.

In Africa, K-C announced plans to close its Lagos plant in Nigeria later this year and build new factories in its location to enhance its technology and production capacity in the region, a decision driven by strong demand growth in the region. The company will also expand its team and open new offices this year.

Looking ahead, K-C is expected to continue to develop its personal care business, and plans to improve many core brands, including curious diapers and baby wipes, Pull-Ups training pants and adult incontinence products.

In July, K-C launched Huggies Special Delivery diapers, the softest botanical diapers made of botanical materials, which can bring maximum comfort to the skin and have a trustworthy leak protection function.

The characteristics of HuggiesSpecialDelivery diapers are made from plant fibers, which are extracted from botanical materials such as sugarcane, which provide excellent absorbency and close fitting. They do not contain hydroxybenzoic acid, spices and chlorine. Dermatological tests and clinical evidence fully show that the product has low sensitization to the baby's delicate skin.

In the field of adult incontinence, K-C's companion brand has developed a new Depend Fit-Flex absorbent incontinence trousers series. The new product has many designs for women and super soft fabrics to improve comfort.

Lauren Kren, senior brand manager of the company, said: "we are delighted to bring new exquisite designs and super soft fabrics to consumers to help them cope with the challenges. Incontinence should not be a barrier to consumers' enjoyment of life. On the contrary, they are not exposed to bladder leakage or discomfort while doing their favorite activities.

Meanwhile, K-C's Poise brand recently launched Poise Ultra Thin Active Collection sanitary napkin and pads for women with mild bladder leak (LBL).