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Spunlace nonwovens market is growing. Despite oversupply in some areas, experts are optimistic about future capacity utilization. The driving force behind this optimism comes mainly from the flushable wipes market. Increasing consumer awareness has prompted nonwovens manufacturers to continue to expand the application of their technology in this field.

"The global market for flushable wipes is booming and many processors are looking for wipes with this characteristic." Andre Michalon, director of Perfojet sales at Andritz, said. Twenty years ago, Andritz expanded its product portfolio with a new construction of a hydroentanglement device, fully adapted to the production of flushable wipes, a technology known as Wetlace. "Wood pulp-based Wetlace technology can produce materials suitable for sustainable flushable wipes, which is very important to the market." He added.

David Price, a partner at Price Hanna Consultants, said that although the market has shown great interest in flushable substrates, there has been an oversupply due to the addition of a series of new capacity in this field. "As in the case of polypropylene spunbonded nonwovens, the new capacity of spunlace is usually large, and the installation of large production lines makes it unlikely that the increased capacity will be fully digested immediately."
He added.

He noted that some investments, particularly in the flushable side, may be ahead of the market, but he remains extremely optimistic about the standard-compliant wipe substrate sector, as these markets are growing and market penetration increases as applications expand and deepen. "I think the driving factor behind the growth is the improvement in global economic conditions, including developed and developing countries, as well as the growth of interest in flushable wipes and the increase in penetration of the hygiene product market. Although there is an oversupply in some regions, it is likely to be only temporary."

EcoWipes, a manufacturer of private label wipes, is trying to seize the growth opportunity of flushable wipes. The Polish company also produces its own nonwovens and recently they ordered a third nonwovens production line. Due to the increasing consumer interest in biodegradable materials, EcoWipes chose Trutzler nonwovens and Voith's wet spunlaced (WLS) production line. The equipment developed by these two companies can produce wet spunlaced nonwovens in line with sustainable concepts, so it is the ideal choice for EcoWipes company for its product range. The line can produce flushable wipes and recyclable, biodegradable products. These materials satisfy consumer preferences for better sustainability at the end of the product cycle.

EcoWipes new production line is a flexible non-woven equipment. Voith supplies the hydroformer, one of the main elements of the new line. This concept is based on Voith's long experience in the paper and pulp industry. With HydroFormer technology, the suspension is highly diluted, so that nonwovens can be produced entirely from renewable and cost-effective cellulosic raw materials. Truzler is not only responsible for spunlacing, drying and winding, but also provides the latest high-speed carding machines. This flexible configuration allows the EcoWipes to have a wide range of wet/spunlace or carded/spunlace nonwoven production.

At the same time, the Finnish Spunlace Expert Suominen recently announced that it will invest 6 million euros in its plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, mainly to install new carding equipment on the existing spunlace production line. It will increase the plant's capacity and further support Suominen in developing and supplying new products.

Upon completion of the upgrade, the line will help Suominen improve its ability to provide high value-added nonwovens for home care, personal care and workplace wipes, and hygiene applications, all of which are areas where Suominen is looking for growth opportunities. The investment also allows Suominen to supply customers with more effective nonwovens for baby wipes.

In announcing the news, Nina Kopola, President and CEO, said, "This investment is yet another demonstration of our seriousness about growth and is in line with our strategy to be an innovator. This is a significant upgrade to Suominen current production technology base, expanding our global product offering and increasing our production capacity. In the long run, we can increase the share of high value-added nonwovens produced by the Green Bay plant." Suominen operate two spunlace production lines in this factory.

Turkish nonwovens producer Mogul is also investing in spunlace, having opened its latest investment, the Mogul South Carolina Nonwovens, early last year. Located in Grey Court, South Carolina, the plant has a 3.2-meter high-speed parallel spunlace production line with an annual capacity of 15000 tons. Mogul's first investment outside Turkey will help them meet the demand for nonwovens technology in the wet wipes, hygiene products, filtration and automotive markets. By expanding into the US market, they will be able to better serve existing customers and meet the growing demand for high-quality nonwovens in North America, South America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Mogul also recently added a cross-spunlace production line to its plant in Luleburgaz, near Istanbul, Turkey, increasing its spunlace nonwovens production capacity. This cross spunlace product, which bears the Durell brand name, makes up for Mogul's existing Aqualace parallel-laid spunlace lines. The new cross spunlace line brings more high-performance products to Mogul's spunlace product line.

According to Mogul, the difference between cross-laying and parallel laying is that the former lays the carded fibers at an angle of 90 degrees to the direction of the production line. In parallel laying, the carded fibers are laid parallel to the line direction.

By overlapping the webs, the resulting web has similar tensile strength in both the machine direction (MD) and the cross direction (CD). Applications include automotive, building materials, filtration, home textiles, wipes, medical, laminate, personal care, faux leather and disposable sheets. Mogul's CEO Serkan Gogus said the new line will be used for wipes, automotive, artificial leather, medical and other applications.

Jacob Holm announced this year that it will invest more than 2 million euros in its production site in Asturias, Spain. The plant was acquired by Jacob Holm from DuPont in 2012 and produces Sontara spunlace nonwovens.

Focus on Asia

Experts agree that today's spunlaced nonwovens market will focus on Asia. In fact, China is the world's largest spunlace market. "China is the center of spunlaced nonwovens production and is likely to continue to grow," said David Price, "This is the region with the largest spunlaced nonwovens production capacity. In China and the Asia-Pacific region, the use of spunlaced materials is expanding, and the use and exports to other regional markets are also growing."

Last year, Trutzler nonwovens received a number of orders for new spunlace production lines, especially in China and East Asia.

A big reason for this is the rise of the middle class in China, Japan and South Korea, who are increasingly buying convenience goods such as personal care and household wipes and hygiene products. "The pursuit of softness and natural materials plays an important role, and we see a trend to use cotton fibers in a variety of end products," said Marc Wolpers, general manager of sales at Trutzler's Nonwovens and Man-made Fibers Division. "A successful example is cotton spunlace. This consumer preference is largely driving the growth of the spunlace market."

Wolpers see efficiency as another important reason for investing in new spunlace lines. "Old lines lack competitiveness due to limited speed," he said, "especially carding technology has made great progress in the past decade, so it is worthwhile for producers to close old lines and invest in new ones."

Andritz's Michalon also believes that 2017 is an extraordinary year for Asian spunlace investment, and China's position as a leader is more obvious. "The improvement of living standards in the region, the continuous development of urbanization and the end of the one-child policy have finally contributed to the increase of investment in spunlace." He added.

The end of the one-child policy has also prompted new investments by Chinese spunlace producers, Michalon explained. "Before that, China's leading spunlace producers only made some investments in 2014 and 2015," he said, "and after the end of the one-child policy, they invested in a new generation of spunlace production lines, not only targeting the domestic market, but also to meet the needs of the global market." Finally, Michalon added that the Chinese economy's shift from an export-oriented to domestic consumption-oriented has also affected the spunlace market.

German nonwovens producer Sandler has also seen a lot of investment in spunlace in Asia. Carolin Weber, sales director for Sandler's sanitary products and wipes business, said China will have a significant impact on the global spunlace market. "It goes without saying that we will closely monitor developments." She added. As a result of the rise of the middle class, China's spunlace capacity is being digested internally, while also targeting the West.

"Obviously China is exporting to North America," Price said. "This is not to say that it will overwhelm local producers, but Chinese spunlaced nonwovens are being exported to North America, and a smaller number are being exported to Europe."

Beyond Wipes

Wet wipes are undoubtedly the largest market for spunlace nonwovens, and for most spunlace producers, it is their largest market. "Today, we can see wipes almost everywhere in our daily lives: from baby care to cosmetics, from car care to furniture lighting or computer screen cleaning," Sandler's Weber said. "Even on the road, wipes are always available and easy to use, so the demand for wipes is likely to continue. Although the main supply is currently matching mainstream demand, there are still opportunities to achieve visual differentiation through printed or embossed patterns, and to further develop new products through enhanced functions, innovative product structures or combinations, and different characteristics." While wipes continue to consume most of the hydroentangling capacity, the material is also finding its way into other applications.

Price acknowledged that spunlace materials are also gradually expanding to other markets, especially in sanitary products. "I think to a large extent due to overcapacity in some areas, spunlace nonwovens manufacturers are also developing some important markets, not only expanding their product lines, but also further developing the potential of equipment." However, the use of spunlace materials in the diversion layer and other parts of diapers is still relatively small.

For its part, Mogul has focused on technology applications and the hygiene products business. "We have observed an interest in spunlace materials in the hygiene products market. If this trend continues, it will significantly change this field." Gogus said.

Another growing market for spunlace observed by Mogul is medical materials. "Spunlace materials provide better care for the skin in medical and healthcare applications due to their softness, absorbency and controlled stretch properties," said Jonathan Layer, Business Development Manager for Mogul Americas. "We have leveraged our background in the pharmaceutical industry to set up a comprehensive small laboratory to ensure the cleanliness of our products before they enter these critical applications."

Although a small part of Suominen's business is in the non-wipes market-care business area, mainly used in hygiene products and medical applications, wipes still account for more than 90% of its net sales. "Wipes are our core market.

EErnesto S. Levy, Suominen's senior vice president of Convenience operations, said. The Suominen focus is on the baby, personal care, home and workplace wipes market, overall, the wipes market continues to show signs of healthy growth, as consumers worldwide are looking for more convenience.

With the growth of population, the baby wipes market is growing. Levy says this is particularly evident in South America and Asia. In addition, home and personal care wipes will continue to grow as new innovative products offer more specialized home cleaning and beauty solutions. He acknowledged that while the market for wet toilet paper continues to grow, wastewater treatment systems around the world need products that can be dispersed like toilet paper. "We are innovating in every market." He said.

At the same time, Welspun is quickly becoming an innovative company, with success in hygiene products, wipes, clean rooms, aerospace and more. The Indian spunlace producer recently developed a non-woven fabric called Comfina (patent pending), designed for feminine care products and diapers. "Recently our Comfina have been very successful, so we are considering continuing to expand our spunlace business in these areas." Welspun chief executive Milind Hardikar said.

In the wipes market, Welspun offer brands designed for specific applications, including Welicate, 3 DSwipes and FibroSplit. Welicate is an ultra-soft and delicate fabric, ideal for baby wipes; 3DSwipe is a sturdy and efficient wiping material, developed for high-performance cleaning; FibroSplit sturdy without linting, designed for clean rooms and aerospace Designed for applications. In the aerospace sector, 100 percent cotton nonwovens from Welspun have been certified by well-known laboratories in the United States.

"We have been developing natural fiber nonwovens for the aerospace industry," says Hardikar. "We are excited about this development and look forward to meeting more aerospace industry requirements with our products that comply with the Aerospace Materials Standards (AMS) and Boeing Materials Specifications (BMS)."

The product has been certified, has the characteristics of not easy to fall off chips and high water absorption, and can effectively deal with hard and clean surfaces. It does not contain silicon, does not generate static electricity, and has passed solvent compatibility tests. With the encouraging results of this product, Welspun will launch a series of products developed for cleaning applications in the aerospace industry.