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In 2020, due to the sudden COVID-19, although it has entered thousands of households, but the sense of existence in front of the public is still very low non-woven fabrics suddenly out of the circle. Meltblown cloth, in particular, is almost a household name.

 

 

Although COVID-19 is currently under control in China, the world continues to develop. Against this background, the CINTE2020 held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center on September 2-4 welcomed a large audience. In the words of Ms. Wang Yufang, deputy general manager of Chili (Shanghai) Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd., "The number of visitors received on the first day was 3-4 times that of previous years".

 

Ms. Wang Yufang, Deputy General Manager of Cheely (Shanghai) Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd.

 

For the epidemic and the future development of the non-woven industry, what are the thoughts of the representatives of various enterprises, let's listen to their sharing at the exhibition site.

 

When the epidemic broke out, the non-woven industry chain was mobilized.

 

Because of the outbreak, the demand for masks has grown rapidly for a period of time, resulting in a visible shortage of materials and soaring prices of some products. Mr. Li Zhihui, general manager of Beijing Quantum Jinzhou Nonwoven Technology Co., Ltd., observed that before early May, a large number of meltblown lines were launched, which were mixed with a lot of speculative ingredients. The configuration of these equipment and the level of operating personnel are uneven, the lack of testing equipment, investors do not know the meltblown technology, there are many problems in the process, the quality is different, and the market is chaotic. Beginning in late May, as the Ministry of Commerce, governments at all levels, and market supervision departments implemented strict supervision of product quality, the market basically restored order.

 

During the New Crown epidemic, Arceli's orders also surged and needed to be delivered in the shortest possible time, and Arceli's Italian head office quickly docked with the local government and worked overtime to produce. "Because the equipment is delivered one day earlier, it is support for customers and the fight against the epidemic. Yaselli has shortened the delivery cycle to a maximum of six months, which was not possible before." Ms. Wang Yufang said.

 

So far this year, Arceli's sales in China's non-woven fabric market have reached several times that of last year. Ms. Wang Yufang said, "The growth is very impressive, with significant growth on a global scale. In addition to new investment from companies in the original industry, a lot of this year's growth has come from new entrants."

 

Mr. Gu Dongzhao, Vice Chairman of Ruiguang Group

 

At the beginning of the outbreak, the market was chaotic, and many people found that under the severe impact of the overall economic environment, the non-woven industry had explosive growth and explosive profit opportunities. Ms. Wang Jing, general manager of Yongxin Group New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., said: "Yongxin Group is fully aware that in recent years, our industry veterans have grown together with customers and the market. Although profitability is the instinct of the enterprise, we cannot ignore the market and rights of old customers because of greed for a while. So we always put the customer in the super important position. Throughout the outbreak, the basic stability of customer supply, no out-of-stock and rash price increases. These customers are therefore very grateful to us, and the cooperative relationship between the two sides has been further deepened."

 

During the outbreak, the products of Yongxin's subsidiaries were also used in student health packages prepared by more than 50 embassies and consulates for international students.

 

Dalian Ruiguang Nonwovens Group Co., Ltd. has also made great contributions to the "anti-epidemic. Mr. Gu Dongzhao, Vice Chairman of Ruiguang Group, said: "The enterprise has fulfilled its civic obligations in the fight against the epidemic, and has also won the national advanced collective to fight the new coronary pneumonia epidemic! As a manufacturer of epidemic materials, it is the responsibility and responsibility of Ruiguang and enterprises in the industry as corporate citizens to be able to contribute to the country and society in the epidemic!"

 

Mr. Wang Yuehui, Business Director of Shandong Taipeng

 

Ruiguang Group's three major product series, including personal protective dry and wet wipes series, flushable toilet wet tissue series, and spinning and melting medical protective products series, have an annual output of more than 100000 tons. The company attaches great importance to research and development and innovation. Relying on variety and functionality, it provides customers with value-added product solutions. 29 years of industry precipitation, so that enterprises and domestic and foreign brands to maintain many years of strategic cooperation.

 

During the new crown outbreak, Changlong enterprises focused on surgical clothing, protective materials production equipment. "Because protective clothing is more scarce, the spinning and melting composite materials used have high requirements on the stability and precision of the equipment." Ms. Huang Wenle, sales manager of Zhejiang Chaolong Textile Machinery Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Changlong Enterprise, said.

 

The core advantage of Changlong, which has a history of 28 years, is the high stability of the machine operation, and the non-woven fabric is uniform and soft. The company's latest SMMMSS production line has the main advantage of high efficiency and a speed of up to 700 m/min. The non-woven fabric produced is soft and can be used for sanitary materials, diapers and medical protective products. "The addition of an M-head is also for protection against the new coronavirus."

 

Compared with previous years, the sales of non-woven equipment in Changlong enterprises have doubled this year. In the first half of the year, it was mainly domestic orders. Recent orders mainly came from foreign countries, including Turkey, Japan, Eastern Europe, South America and other countries. Ms. Huang Wenle said: "The global demand for protective material production equipment is relatively large, and this trend is expected to continue until the first half of next year."

 

Since May, the water parking solution of Shandong Zhangqiu Blower Co., Ltd. Turbo Machinery Co., Ltd. has been relatively hot. The company's minister, Mr. Wang Chu, observed: "In the past, the non-woven industry water in the pole equipment is not much. With the outbreak of the mask market, the advantages of water in the pole melting cloth was discovered, many enterprises to change the water in the pole process, the exhibition has a lot of visitors to ask, want to transform the original production line."

 

"We have Roots blowers and centrifugal blowers. In the first half of the year, there are more Roots blowers for melt-blown non-woven fabrics, and in the second half of the year, it is mainly centrifugal blowers." Mr. Wang Chu introduced. Zhanggu is involved in the non-woven industry mainly because of the new crown epidemic, "there is no new crown epidemic, meltblown is a very niche industry, the epidemic prompted meltblown cloth, non-woven out of the circle. This year the company has been for the water in the polar equipment supporting about 200 blowers."

 

Mr. Wang Yuehui, business director of Shandong Taipeng Environmental Protection Materials Co.

 

Mr. Lu Yanguo, general manager of the non-woven department of Andritz (China) Co., Ltd. Wuxi Branch, pointed out that due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the demand for domestic non-woven products is very strong this year. Andritz has been fully cooperating with the production demand for anti-epidemic materials. Mr. Lu said: The non-woven fabrics produced with Andritz equipment are of stable quality and excellent vertical and horizontal strength, meeting the huge demand for high-quality products."

 

Market performance outside of epidemic prevention

 

Mr. Wang Yuehui introduced that Shandong Taipeng's current total production capacity is 30000 tons, including 5 spunbond lines, 2 needle-punched lines and 2 meltblown lines. This year, the demand of home textile, clothing and other industries has declined, and the acupuncture materials have decreased compared with before, but it is not serious. In addition to the epidemic situation, it is also related to the overall economic environment. The market for protection-related products and swimming pool filtration is growing rapidly, so the overall market is relatively stable. "Pool filter media is mainly used in the U.S. market, public places to limit the opening, the use of small domestic swimming pool increased." Relatively speaking, the automotive industry-related products have declined.

 

"The amount and price of meltblown cloth with medium and low filtration efficiency are declining sharply. Products that meet the export market standards are basically unaffected, and the demand for high-efficiency filtration meltblown cloth remains stable.

 

Mr. Wang Chu feels that, relatively speaking, the water treatment, petrochemical, electric power and other industries have been affected this year, but because Shandong Zhanggu's technology was developed on the basis of the introduction of the United States, the internal flow channel structure of the blower has been greatly improved. "Replacing two 37 kW Roots blowers with a 45 kW centrifugal blower has obvious energy-saving effect, low noise and very competitive."

 

In the face of rapid expansion of production capacity, what is the industry outlook

 

For the rapid expansion of non-woven production capacity, both inside and outside the industry are generally concerned. "The epidemic has brought a large number of new companies. Each equipment company has signed a large number of production lines, which means that from next year, the production capacity of the non-woven industry will explode." Ms. Wang Jing said.

 

According to Mr. Li Zhihui's statement, there are too many new meltblowing equipment in the early stage of the country, and nearly 80% of the equipment has stopped production. The reason is that at present, non-woven products are mainly for export, mask manufacturers are very cautious. "It is not easy to enter the Ministry of Commerce white list, get the relevant foreign certification, if the quality of the problem, the loss is very large, so the mask material requirements are very high. And many new enterprises meltblown cloth quality is not good, and did not find a new market, can only stop production."

 

Shandong Zhangqiu Blower Co., Ltd. Turbine Machinery Co., Ltd. Minister Mr. Wang Chu

 

Ms. Wang Yufang is optimistic about the future. "Before 2008, China invested in a lot of imported 5.6-meter-wide household paper equipment. At that time, many people estimated that there would be too much new production capacity and there would be no new toilet paper investment projects in five years, but in fact, only one year later, toilet paper equipment has grown at a rate of about 10 units per year." Ms. Wang recalled.

 

"China has a large market and a large population. Once consumers use disposable hygiene and personal care products, it is difficult to go back to the past. In addition, China's two-child policy, aging, and the vast development space in the central and western regions will bring many opportunities. Moreover, even in the current complex situation, China is still making progress, and the epidemic control is doing very well, the world is currently only China can hold such a large exhibition, so I am very optimistic about the prospects of the non-woven market." Ms. Wang Yufang said that the only worrying thing is that many cross-border enterprises have entered the non-woven fabric industry, resulting in a shortage of technical talents. "in the future, we will encounter dish washing and the survival of the fittest."

 

Mr. Wang Yuehui believes that, overall, meltblown, PET spunbond, spunlace and other new production lines have more investment, and the current production capacity can meet the global epidemic protection needs. "There will be overcapacity in the future, but over time, part of the capacity may be converted and absorbed by new demand."

 

Ms. Wang Jing agreed that the non-woven industry will have excess capacity next year, "but we have confidence in the Chinese market because the market capacity is large enough."

 

Ms. Huang Wenle also feels that the market's investment enthusiasm will calm down in the second half of 2021 and return to the original market state. There will be excess capacity and the industry will experience a cooling-off period of about two years. The improvement of the economic level of developing or underdeveloped countries has stimulated the demand for disposable health, medical, protective products, packaging and shopping bags. They will purchase materials and equipment from China, which will bring new growth. The company is also recently negotiating with Southeast Asian customers to export equipment.

 

Mr. Lu Yanguo believes that the impact of the epidemic, the market did appear a short-term investment overheating phenomenon, but the new crown epidemic has brought another impact, that is, the non-woven fabric and its wide application of invisible played a role in the promotion, so that it goes deep into every household, everyone's heart, many people's consumption habits inadvertently changed. "Although the investment has increased, but the scope of application has also expanded, consumption has increased. Whether or not the habit, will consider wearing masks or at home to reserve some masks, disinfection wipes almost become essential supplies, kitchen wipes are also expanding, so the overall application of non-woven market is expanding."

 

Thinking and coping strategies in the post-epidemic era

 

Ms. Wang Yufang believes that the overall trend of market development is stable equipment, high degree of automation, and decreasing demand for labor. Non-woven production equipment is also moving towards industrial 4.0, realizing the whole process of intelligent information communication from raw materials into the factory to finished products out of the warehouse. "As the only veteran in the world who can provide auxiliary equipment for non-woven production lines from winding to slitting, automatic packaging, automatic storage, unmanned transportation, etc., Yaseli has been focusing on non-woven packaging, slitting, printing, compounding and other technologies in its 76-year history. The world's top non-woven products manufacturers are basically our customers. They have increasingly strict requirements for products and suppliers, hoping to avoid manual contact with materials."

 

The non-woven winding machine, slitting machine, automatic packaging production line, automatic storage, unmanned conveying trolley, flexible printing equipment, composite production line, etc. brought by Yasseli in this exhibition are all to meet the needs of this market development trend. "We are also the first company in the global non-woven industry to achieve this goal."

 

In addition, Yaseli also brought spindle equipment mainly used for hot air non-woven fabrics. "The hot air non-woven fabric is relatively fluffy. When it is used for baby diapers and feminine hygiene products, the rolls produced by traditional slitting equipment are very small and narrow. If it is made into large rolls, it is easy to collapse. Our spindle equipment swings back and forth during winding, and the length of the finished rolls can be increased by 10 times, 20 times or even more." Ms. Wang Yufang introduced.

 

Last year, Yasaili Foshan Company was put into operation to support the market demand in South China. "We have strengthened the management of sales, after-sales service and support projects, and enriched the technical team of automation engineers." Affected by the epidemic, foreign colleagues were unable to come to China, and the Shanghai technical team played its best potential to provide support to all customers and won the recognition of customers. "The Chinese market is the market with the greatest potential in the world, and the group company will definitely increase its investment in the entire Chinese market in the future." Ms. Wang Yufang said.

 

Mr. Lu Yanguo, General Manager of Nonwovens Department, Andritz (China) Co., Ltd. Wuxi Branch

 

Regarding the twists and turns in Sino-US relations, Mr. Wang Yuehui believes that this has an impact on the entire market. "If similar products can be provided by other countries or regions in the world, the United States tends to use them instead of China's, unless the products cannot be replaced, or other countries cannot reach the technology or production capacity."

 

Shandong Taipeng's products are mainly for swimming pool filter media, auxiliary materials for air filtration, polyester spunbond non-woven fabrics, as well as RPT and PLA non-woven fabrics. Mr. Wang Yuehui introduced that there were only a few polyester spunbond production lines on the market, and now there are more and more ordinary polyester spunbond lines. In order to reduce competitive pressure, the company will take a high-end, differentiated product route in the future. "The world is paying more attention to environmental protection and the use of recycled materials. The company will then add new spunbond production lines to differentiate its products based on market research."

 

Mr. Gu Dongzhao feels that the new crown epidemic has made the market structure, investment subjects, customer demand and even the entire industry has undergone earth-shaking changes. "The outbreak of the epidemic has driven the export of products and prompted changes in people's living habits. "The demand for disinfection wipes is very large, and there are many new production lines this year. In the post-epidemic era, competition will be fierce. I hope everyone can think calmly instead of blindly joining the competition in the saturated market."

 

In the past 16 years, Yongxin Group has been focusing on spunlace, starting from cleaning products, and the product series has expanded to today's 7 categories. As of March this year, there are 7 production lines with a total production capacity of nearly 40000 tons. Next year, a new spunlace production line will be added. By then, the production capacity will reach 60000 tons. In the next 5-6 years, it is planned to further expand to 100000 tons.

 

Ms. Wang Jing, General Manager of Yongxin Group New Material Technology Co., Ltd.

 

From Ms. Wang Jing's point of view, foreign trade will face new trade barriers. "In the early stage, Yongxin Group has a large proportion of exports, and will make some adjustments in the follow-up, on the one hand, to reach a consensus with foreign customers on how to deal with the common problems they face. At the same time, we should make full use of the policies introduced by the state to promote the improvement of the internal cycle of the economy, and reach deep cooperation with domestic high-end buyers." She believes that product demand will always be low, medium and high-end. "We need to find partners who can appreciate our Yongxin value in the right market."

 

With the development of China's economy and society, non-woven fabrics are widely used in the fields of disposable wiping, cleaning, medical treatment and hygiene. In the early days of its establishment, Yongxin mainly used polyester and viscose for most spunlacing. In 2010, it began to cooperate with raw material suppliers to carry out research and development of biodegradable materials including bamboo fiber and PLA, which also became the characteristic of Yongxin. Ms. Wang Jing said: "our four small production lines are used for the development of customized high value-added products, creating unique value for us and customers. At the same time, we have formed a good cooperation with the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. Information transmission and sharing are rapid and efficient, and we have accumulated rich experience in the terminal market."

 

One of the secrets of Yongxin to maintain a high level of operation is to select customers to build core competitiveness. "In the future, we will continue to lead the way in the development of high-end products and the application of new materials. At the same time, we need to increase the proportion of degradable raw materials, as the US and European markets have put forward requirements for degradable materials, and the company is also experimenting with new technologies such as spunlace/spunbond compounding." Ms. Wang Jing said.

 

Ms. Huang Wenle, Sales Manager, Zhejiang Chaolong Textile Machinery Co., Ltd.

 

The German company Truzler Nonwovens and Man-made Fibers has demonstrated complete solutions for carding/spunlace, wet-laid/spunlace and hot-melt product lines, as well as high-quality wet wipes, sanitary napkins and non-woven fabrics for hygiene and technical applications. Efficient production process.

 

In the field of nonwovens, high-speed, high-productivity processes can provide a competitive advantage. Trutzler's equipment for nonwovens combines efficiency and quality. Netting is a key step in determining the quality of the final product. Türtzler offers solutions to meet various requirements, including single-layer or multi-layer webs, as well as composite materials made of natural fibers, man-made fibers or other fibers. The design, carding machine configuration and cross-lager are carefully selected to provide the required performance for the final product.

 

The company says it is particularly focused on solutions for sustainable nonwovens manufacturing. These nonwovens are made from renewable resources such as cotton, natural fibers, rayon and wood pulp. These fibers are the basis for high-value, biodegradable, disposable end products such as dry wipes, masks, feminine care products and medical textiles.

 

It is worth mentioning that recently, Trutzler set up a second Chinese branch, namely, Trutzschler Textile Machinery (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd. (TTMJ). TTMJ will be planned as a manufacturing and service center, focusing on serving Chinese nonwovens customers and the emerging Chinese nonwovens industry.

 

For China-US relations, Mr. Gu Dongzhao believes that this will have an impact on the export market, "At present, Dalian Ruiguang exports and domestic market each account for 50%, if the foreign market is affected, we will gradually shift from the outside to the inside. Now that many buyers invest in Southeast Asian countries to build factories, the competitiveness of Chinese products may decline, which will have a greater impact on the Chinese nonwoven market in the future."

 

Next, Dalian Ruguang must first develop green manufacturing, replace existing products with degradable biological and environmentally friendly products, while maintaining high-quality development. Dalian Ruguang will aim at the high-end market with meltblown technology and degradable technology, and guide the future investment of enterprises with the concept of "filling in the short board and filling in the blank. Meltblown products will develop N99 materials with low gram weight, high efficiency and low resistance. At the same time, efforts will be made to develop environment-friendly spunlace fabrics that replace existing polyester with viscose and wood pulp, so as to achieve high quality, sustainability, degradation and environmental protection."

 

Ms. Huang Wenle said that Changlong's next research and development direction is first to improve production capacity and speed, then to improve the hand feel and non-woven fabric indicators, such as improving the water pressure, blood resistance, impermeability and other indicators of medical protection materials.

 

Mr. Li Zhihui, General Manager of Beijing Quantum Jinzhou Nonwoven Technology Co., Ltd.

 

Meltblown cloth quality to pass, first of all need to ensure that equipment, technology, raw materials is the key. Mr. Li Zhihui hopes that all meltblown cloth manufacturers will conduct research, consult, and conduct technical exchanges with institutions and experienced enterprises. "Meltblown technology after years of development, has a certain foundation, the industry's well-known enterprises to do very well, is still running at full capacity, product prices are also very ideal. Most of the meltblown cloth manufacturers have just entered the industry, did not have time to learn the basics, the future to strengthen the study of meltblown raw materials, processes, equipment, testing technology."

 

Mr. Li Zhihui believes that the primary development direction of meltblown cloth products in the future is filtration. Ultrafine fiber, structure and adsorption determine that meltblown cloth is a very good filter product. "No matter masks or isolation suits, the filtration performance of meltblown cloth is used. Fresh air system, electronic, pharmaceutical and food purification workshops also need this kind of material. The potential of water filtration and automobile industry is worth further exploring."

 

Meltblown cloth should not be limited to PP, not limited to masks, to diversify products, a variety of raw material applications, to open the application areas, including the meltblown process and other processes, materials combined, change the use. To develop biodegradable polymers, this is the general direction of future development. "Meltblown enterprises must be relaxed, such as the development of disposable wipes, clothing warm materials, water filtration, automotive market." Mr. Li Zhihui said.

 

Due to the high filtration efficiency, low resistance and more comfortable and efficient mask wearing, the water station is welcomed by the market, but there are more than 100 water station production lines in China, and the production capacity of this technology is low, with one line producing 500~600kg/day. And the water immobility requires that the meltblown cloth is very uniform, "at least it is no problem to make N95 masks, and then it is possible to use the water immobility technology. Therefore, enterprises must always keep a cool head and analyze their own environment and state." Mr. Li Zhihui gave his own advice.

 

Andritz has worked professionally in the field of non-woven fabrics for many years. Its advantage lies in its technology research and development capabilities and strong technical reserves. Mr. Lu Yanguo said that they will focus on technology research and development in the future and lead the market development direction. "In addition, we pay more attention to energy conservation and environmental protection, which is also in line with the trend of world development."

 

At present, other regions are stimulated by the epidemic, investment demand is rising, and the Chinese market will enter a stable stage of investment, Andritz non-woven market will gradually expand to Africa or other underdeveloped areas, which will also be the future of China's industry to go out of a trend. Mr. Lu Yanguo said, "As an international enterprise, Andritz is committed to introducing advanced technology and equipment from Europe to China, improving the manufacturing level of Chinese non-woven fabrics to meet the needs of domestic and foreign markets. At the same time, we will introduce our locally manufactured equipment in Wuxi to Chinese users and improve the cost performance of our equipment in the Chinese market."