Nonwovens Industry Breaking News

Mask Factory To Reopen In Texas

Karen Bitz — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:33:00 -0500

Prestige Ameritech is turning a former Kimberly-Clark surgical mask factory into a Global Pandemic Preparedness and Response Center. The vacant 222,000-square-foot facility, located on 17 acres in North Richland Hills, TX, will reopen in late January when it will help supply U.S. hospitals with their normal supply of masks and respirators and also help the U.S. and other countries build stockpiles of surgical masks and N95 respirator masks for use during the H1N1 and future pandemics.

Many of Prestige Ameritech's 200 employees once worked at the facility under K-C ownership. K-C closed the site in 2006 when many U.S.-based mask makers discontinued domestic production. Prestige Ameritech hopes to add another 200 jobs to the site within the next few years.

“Prestige Ameritech will provide the U.S. healthcare systems with a secure, high quality American-made surgical mask and respirator supply that cannot be diverted by foreign health agencies during global emergencies,” said Dan Reese, Prestige Ameritech’s founder and CEO.

Colbond Extends Sustainable Carpet Backings

Sandra Levy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0500

Colbond has extended its Colback range of environmentally sustainable carpet backings. All standard product types now are available as recycled content variants, contributing to the flooring industry’s drive for sustainable manufacturing.

Eco-friendly Colback carpet backings deliver exactly the same cost-effective high performance as Colback nonwovens manufactured from virgin raw material, according to the company.
In January 2007 Colbond launched the first Colback nonwoven using 100% post-consumer recycled polyester. Building on the success of this product the company has recently substantially increased its capacity for post-consumer recycled polyester.

“This strategic investment has strengthened our competitive edge in the production and distribution of environmental sustainable nonwovens. It also extends our leadership in this field,” said Harry Verbakel, Director Sales & Marketing at Colbond. “Having further increased the efficiency of our manufacturing process we are delighted to offer the recycled content versions at the same price points as virgin raw material Colback types.”

Demonstrating its commitment to its environmental culture and strategy, Colbond is also preparing to launch recycled content products in other core markets shortly.

Avgol Chinese Line Nearly Complete

Karen Bitz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:53:00 -0500

Avgol has taken the majority control of our joint venture in China . A new line is ready to be installed and it will come on line late in the second quarter of 2010.

This had been publically announced earlier this year.

ATNT To Be Held In December

Karen Bitz — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:16:00 -0500

The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) at Texas Tech University will host the sixth annual international conference on Advances in Textiles, Machinery, Nonwovens and Technical Textiles, (ATNT) 2009.

The event, held in collaboration with Bannari Amman Institute of Technology in India (BIT), will held Dec. 7-9 at the institute’s campus in Sathyamangalam, state of Tamilnadu, South India. The conference will feature papers from natural fibers to fashion design and nonwovens to technical textiles.

The conference is expected to attract more than 250 people from around the globe, said Seshadri Ramkumar, the organizing secretary for the conference and an associate professor of nonwoven materials at TIEHH. The international conference seeks to enhance professional interaction, enable future collaboration and improve business opportunities in fiber and textile disciplines.

PGI to Acquire Spanish Nonwovens Business Tesalca-Texnovo

Sandra Levy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:42:00 -0500

Polymer Group, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Barcelona, Spain-based Tesalca-Texnovo nonwovens businesses from Grupo Corinpa, S.L. in a two-phase process. The purchase is expected to close by the end of November, subject to customary closing conditions.

In conjunction with the transaction, PGI and Grupo Corinpa will initiate a long-term partnership that includes share ownership by Grupo Corinpa in PGI and representation on the PGI board of directors.

The businesses will be operated as a new wholly owned subsidiary (PGI Spain) and will have in excess of 50,000 metric tonnes of combined capacity. The acquisition furthers PGI’s strategy of strengthening its position as the global leader in the hygiene market by increasing its presence in Europe, the world’s largest volume market, and bringing it into new markets in Western Europe and Northern Africa where Tesalca-Texnovo has a strong customer base.After the consummation of the transaction, PGI’s global spunlaid capacity will be in excess of 285,000 metric tonnes.

Texnovo was founded in 1989 as a family-owned private business focused on the industrial segments and the Tesalca business operations were added a decade later to supply the hygiene and medical segments. With approximately 280 total employees and combined 2008 annual sales of approximately $87 million, Tesalca-Texnovo is the only organization that manufactures spunbond polypropylene nonwoven materials in Spain and is a leader in the European market.

The Tesalca-Texnovo operations are headquartered in Barcelona and operate two plants in Tarragona, Spain on the same property, with six Reifenhauser Reicofil lines serving the hygiene, medical and industrial/agricultural segments.

“This acquisition will give us a larger platform for growth in this part of the world and will further our strategy to be the global hygiene leader,” said Veronica (Ronee) Hagen, PGI’s chief executive officer. “The Tesalca-Texnovo business is a good fit with our hygiene, medical and industrial businesses, and will allow us to leverage our global customer relationships and operational excellence.”

“Through this transaction, the Tesalca-Texnovo businesses will grow under the ownership of a large, globally recognized premier nonwovens producer,” Jose Durany, managing director of Tesalca-Texnovo and member of Grupo Corinpa S.L., said. “This will be a good union between companies with similar goals. We look forward to being long-term partners with PGI.”

FitesaFiberweb: U.S. Investment Has Begun

Sandra Levy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:04:00 -0500

FitesaFiberweb’s initial investment in Simpsonville, SC is underway, the joint venture compay has announced. The new multibeam Reicofil 4 line will be capable of producing sophisticated and ultra-lightweight spunmelt nonwovens by the fourth quarter of 2010.

FitesaFiberweb was formed in August when Fiberweb combined its North American assets with Fitesa’s businesses in North and South America. Prior to the merger, Fitesa had announced a plan to add two lines in North America as part of an investment strategy aimed at the hygiene market. Since the company formation, it has been on a fast track to install a modern platform that will guarantee customers access to the most up-to-date spunmelt technology. The Simpsonville line is the first in a series of new investments the company is focusing on to become a leader in the lightweight nonwovens’ market, according to the company.

H&V To Add Carbon Composite Line in U.S.

Sandra Levy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:02:00 -0500

In an expansion of its Adsorptive Filter Media technology platform, Hollingsworth & Vose plans to install a carbon composite filter media manufacturing line in the U.S.

H&V’s unique patented AFM technology combines particulate and gas phase filtration in one media to meet demanding customer adsorption requirements. Already produced at H&V’s Hatzfeld, Germany site, the AFM technology platform provides a high degree of flexibility allowing the filter media adsorption performance to be tailored to specific environments. Other benefits include low dusting, extended filter life cycle, high capacity, high efficiency and good processability.

H&V offers a broad range of sorbents, ranging from activated carbons to molecular sieves and ion exchange resins. This media is used in panel, extended surface and v-bank filters for odor control, corrosion control, toxic gas removal and elimination of airborne pollutants.

Mike Clark, Vice President & General Manager of H&V’s High Efficiency & Specialty Filtration Business Unit said, “We see a growing market need for gas phase filter media and want to bring these capabilities to our North American customers. Expanding our AFM platform is consistent with our global strategy to provide the highest quality advanced technology filtration media to meet our customers’ needs.”

P&G Unleashes 3Q Results

Sandra Levy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:57:00 -0500

Procter & Gamble reported net sales of $19.8 billion for the July-September quarter, a decrease of 6% that was primarily due to unfavorable foreign exchange impacts as the U.S. dollar remained above prior year levels.Organic sales, which exclude the impacts of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign exchange rose 2%.

In the Baby Care and Family sector, net sales declined 5% in the first fiscal quarter to $3.6 billion. Organic sales grew 1% as the impact of price increases more than offset a 1% volume decline. Price increases, primarily taken in developing regions to offset local currency devaluations, added 2% to net sales. Unfavorable foreign exchange reduced net sales by 6%. Baby Care volume increased low single digits behind new initiative launches in Western Europe including the expansion of Pampers Simply Dry and market growth in Asia and Western Europe.

Fiberweb Rolls Out Sales Results

Sandra Levy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:14:00 -0500

Fiberweb announced that for the July to October 2009 period sales trends have continued to improve with third quarter volumes flat versus prior year on a like-for-like basis. The good performance reduces the year-to-date like-for-like volume decline to 11% from the 17% reported at the half-year.

The European Industrial business performed robustly benefiting from good demand for medical products and the successful launch of new roofing products. Americas Industrial benefited from the first significant shipment of new DefenCell products, while still contending with depressed construction and industrial markets.Consumer Fabrics performed well, with strong volumes in North America and Europe and good progress in delivering the cost reduction program, which will be complete, as planned, by the end of the year.

Underlying operating profit for the third quarter was ahead of the same period last year. Operating margin has continued to improve, notwithstanding some headwind from increased raw material prices in the period, according to the company.

SCA Posts 3Q Results

Sandra Levy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:12:00 -0500

SCA reported that net sales for the nine months from January to September rose 1% from the same period a year ago to $12 billion. Profit before tax, excluding restructuring costs was $841 million.Profit for the period, excluding restructuring costs was $614 million.

Operating profit rose 5% for the first nine months of the year and 26% for the third quarter compared with a year ago. Earnings from SCA’s hygiene business improved significantly during the third quarter compared with a year ago with tissue up by 74% and personal care up by 10%.

“A better product mix and stronger margins along with synergy effects in the European tissue operations contributed to this. Margins for our baby diapers have increased compared with a year ago. Campaign intensity remains high in all categories,” said Jan Johansson, SCA’s president and CEO.

Ahlstrom Ups Media Prices

Karen Bitz — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:55:00 -0500

Ahlstrom has announced price increases on its filter media products for transportation and specialty filtration, as a consequence of the rise of raw material costs.

The price increase will affect filtration grades produced by Ahlstrom globally, sold for transportation and specialty filtration applications, and will be effective as of January 1, 2010. The level of increase will depend on the markets, the constituents of the products and the structure of the agreements in place. The increase range will vary up to 10%. Specific details will be discussed with each customer individually by the appropriate business teams in the coming days.

SCA Acquires Argentinean Fem Hy Business

Karen Bitz — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:03:00 -0500

SCA has—through its Colombian joint-venture company—acquired Algodonera Aconcagua, one of the largest players in feminine care in Argentina. The decision to acquire Algodonera Aconcagua was taken by SCA’s half-owned, joint-venture company in Colombia, Productos Familia S.A. The purchase price is approximately SEK165 million on a debt-free basis. The operation of the acquired company focuses on feminine care products, an area in which Algodonera Aconcagua currently holds a marketshare in Argentina of about 20%, placing the company in third position in the country. Regarding the market for feminine care products the three largest companies account for about 80% of sales. Algodonera Aconcagua also holds a small market share in baby diapers and incontinence care, which presents the potential for future expansion in these segments.

“This acquisition gives us a strong foothold in what is a new and attractive market for us with considerable growth potential. The transaction is entirely in line with our strategy, which is to expand in selected, clearly identifiable emerging markets,” said president and CEO Jan Johansson.

Clorox To Change Green Wipes Packaging

Karen Bitz — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:31:00 -0500

Clorox will reportedly discontinue claims that its Green Works Natural Cleaning wipes are biodegradable and that they disinfectant following a reccomendatin from The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. NAD, the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum, examined advertising for the product following a challenge by Method Products, Inc., a competing maker of natural cleaning products.

NAD noted in its decision that it recently has had the opportunity to review several cases involving advertising for products that claim to be “biodegradable.”The difficulty, NAD noted, is in establishing how various claims of “biodegradation” are understood by consumers and how such claims can be properly substantiated.

NAD noted that for most products that enter the solid waste stream, “customary disposal” typically means disposal in a landfill, degradation is slow and uncertain and although the Clorox presented evidence in support of its biodegradability claim, Clorox asserted that it would permanently discontinue the claim as it transitions to new packaging and instead bill the product as “compostable.”

Ahlstrom Announces Sales, Earnings

Sandra Levy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:27:00 -0500

Ahlstrom trots out sales, earnings
Ahlstrom Corp., a leader in high performance fiber-based materials has reported third quarter results. During the July-September 2009 period, net sales reached €400.6Quarterly profit before taxes was €7.3 million.

Net sales for the first three quarters tallied €1,175.6 million. Loss before taxes was €6.6 million, while operating profit before taxes for the first three quarters combined amounted to €28.9 million.

In the fiber composites segment, the recession has not impacted the demand for Ahlstrom’s food packaging and teabag materials or nonwovens in medical applications. The demand for Ahlstrom’s construction materials increased slightly in July-September compared to the first half of the year. Also the demand for wipes and transportation filtration media improved after the weak January-June. In addition, preparations for the possible spread of the H1N1 virus that causes swine flu had a slight upward impact on the demand for face masks and wipes.

Net sales decreased in all of Ahlstrom’s business areas compared to the third quarter of 2008. Compared to April-June 2009, net sales remained unchanged. Net sales for July-September tallied€400.6 million, a decline of 11.2% compared to the same period last year.

Net sales of the Fiber Composites segment reached €216.5 million representing 54% of the Group’s net sales. The segment’s net sales were down 13.1% compared to July-September 2008. Net sales were reduced in all business areas due to lower volumes in most products. Net sales in the Advanced Nonwovens business area dove 13.5% impacted by an extended summer shutdown. The steepest decline, 20.5% was seen in the Glass & Industrial Nonwovens business area. Net sales of Glass & Industrial Nonwovens rose 9.6% compared to April through June 2009, particularly owing to increased demand for construction materials.

Net sales of the Fiber Composites segment amounted to €637.7 million, representing 54% of the Group’s net sales. Net sales fell by 15.9% compared to January through September 2008. Net sales of the Advanced Nonwovens business area plunged 5.5%, close to the level of January through September 2008, while Glass & Industrial Nonwovens net sales fell 28.3%.

K-C Announces Third Quarter Sales

Sandra Levy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:25:00 -0500

Kimberly-Clark reported net sales in the third quarter decreased 1.7% to $4.9 billion, as the effect of weaker foreign currency exchange rates more than offset organic sales growth of about 3%. The growth in organic sales was driven by higher net selling prices, which increased approximately 3%, while overall sales volumes were essentially even with year-ago levels. Sales volumes continue to reflect challenging economic conditions, particularly affecting the company’s K-C Professional and Consumer Tissue businesses in North America and Europe, along with the company’s focus on improving net realized revenue. Meanwhile, sales volumes rose approximately 18% for

K-C’s global Health Care business and about 3% for the company’s operations in developing and emerging markets.

Chairman and CEO Thomas J. Falk said, “We delivered outstanding third quarter results in a challenging environment, while maintaining a strong focus on doing what’s right to sustain our long-term growth. Third quarter performance was highlighted by strong margin expansion in each of our four business segments, record earnings per share and excellent cash flow. We realized sizable benefits from improved net realized revenue, and our strategy of driving efficiency in every aspect of our operations led to another quarter of significant cost reductions as well as overhead efficiencies. At the same time, we continued to deliver on our targeted growth initiatives, with double-digit organic top-line growth in developing and emerging markets and excellent results in Health Care.”

In the third quarter, sales of personal care products decline 0.7% compared with the third quarter of 2008. Although net selling prices increased 5% and sales volumes advanced about 1%, weaker currencies reduced sale by 6% and changes in product mix reduced sales by about 1%.

Personal care sales in North America decreased nearly 1% versus the third quarter of 2008. Although net selling prices advanced approximately 2%, sales volumes fell 2% and currency effects reduced sales by 1%. The higher selling prices resulted from increases implemented during 2008 in most product categories. Sales volumes for Huggies diapers fell about 3%, and volumes for the company’s child care brands were down about 7%, reflecting continued category softness. Nonetheless, the company’s third quarter market share in both categories were even with year-ago levels. In other areas of the business, sales volumes for Huggies baby wipes decreased about 5% compared to double-digit growth in the year-ago period, and volumes for Kotex feminine care products were also down about 5%. Lastly, volumes for K-C’s adult incontinence brand rose 10%, including benefits from product innovation on the Depend brand launched earlier in the year.

In Europe, personal care sales declined about 9% in the quarter, as unfavorable currency exchange erases reduced sales by more than 12%. Sales volumes rose nearly 7%, while net selling prices were down about 2% and changes in product mix reduced sales by more than 1%. The volume gains reflect continued strong performance for Huggies diapers in Central Europe, along with solid improvement in the company’s four core markets of the U.K., France, Italy and Spain. In addition, sales volumes for Huggies baby wipes increased at a double-digit rate in the third quarter.

In developing and emerging markets, personal care sales increased 2%, as continued double-digit growth in organic sales was mostly offset by negative currency effects of 11%. Net selling prices improved about 10% and sales volumes rose 4%, while changes in product mix reduced sales by about 1% in the third quarter. The growth in organic sales was broad-based, with particular strength in Argentina, Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the Andrean region in Latin America.