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During the neo-crown epidemic, rising demand for disinfectant wipes drove increased investment in spunlaced nonwovens, one of the most popular substrates for wipes. This brings the global consumption of spunlaced nonwovens to 1.6 million tons, or $7.8 billion, in 2021. But now demand has fallen, especially in markets such as facial wipes.

 

 

As demand normalizes and production capacity continues to increase, spunlaced nonwovens manufacturers are facing an extremely challenging situation, which is further exacerbated by global inflation, rising raw material prices, supply chain issues, and the implementation of regulations in some markets that restrict the use of single-use plastics.

 

Nonwovens producer Glatfelter Corporation acquired Jacob Holm Industries in 2021 to diversify its business. In its most recent earnings meeting, the company reported lower-than-expected sales and revenue in its spunlace business.

 

"Overall, we have had more challenges than initially anticipated." Thomas Fahnemann, the company's chief executive, said, "The unit's performance to date clearly shows that this acquisition is not what the company originally thought."

 

Fahnemann told investors that Spunlace is still considered a good fit for the company, as the acquisition not only gives them access to Sontara, a strong brand, but also provides a new manufacturing platform to complement their original airlaid nonwovens and composite products business. Getting the spunlace business back to profitability is seen as one of the six key points in the company's transformation plan.

 

"I believe our team understands very well what it takes to stabilize the spunlace business to return to profitability." Fahnemann added, "We will solve the cost base problem and optimize the output to meet customer needs."

 

Photo from China Thailand Henghui

 

Lynda Kelly, Suominen senior vice president of business development in the Americas, also said that profitability was being challenged not only in the spunlace segment, but in all areas of nonwovens.

 

"Considering the current high raw material prices, increased energy costs and fluctuating labor conditions, it is difficult to achieve profitability in the nonwovens business." She said, "We are also seeing increasing competition in the nonwovens industry in Asia and other parts of the world."

 

Specifically to wipes, in late 2020 and early 2021, many major customers, particularly in North America, had materials in stock during the pandemic, and recent demand has fluctuated with the market, Kelly said. She added: "With all the challenges and changes in the market, we have to be really quick to respond, which is not a cost-effective way of doing business because there is often a lag in raw material costs and freight costs."

 

For its part, Suominen was conservative in its investments, even at the peak of the new crown epidemic. Instead of investing in new production lines, the company focused on improving existing production lines in Nakkila, Finland, Cressa, Italy, and Bethune, South Carolina, USA, all with an eye to innovation and sustainability in nonwovens.

 

"To make competitive sustainable nonwovens, we need to optimize production equipment and processes for these products." Kelly added, "These investments support our overall strategy and vision very well."

 

Similarly, Suominen is also seeking to close equipment that cannot be improved or upgraded in line with its sustainability strategy. In late December 2022, the company said it was starting consultations with local unions on plans to stop production in Mozzate, Italy, where it has two production lines and can only process traditional mixed fiber products.

 

"Demand for traditional blended fiber products is declining in Europe." Korhonen Klaus, Interim CEO and President, said, "Manufacturing competitive sustainable nonwovens requires the optimization of production equipment and processes specifically for these products. Our production line at the Mozzate plant is not suitable for sustainable fibers, which, combined with high operating costs, means that the plant is not competitive and is not expected to increase significantly. We are constantly evaluating the performance and profitability of the production line. Unfortunately, in the current situation, we need to consider closing Mozzate equipment to strengthen the competitiveness of the European business."

 

Photo from Truzschler

 

Texol-Orma focuses on the high-end segment to ensure the profitability of its spunlace business. "The consumer goods sector (I. e. wet wipes) is under tremendous pressure to control costs and profitability is very low." DiGuiseppe, the company's Leonardo responsible for sales and marketing, said, "Demand is increasing, but in most cases, the high-end category is still niche, so production is limited."

 

Like most spunlaced nonwovens manufacturers, Texol-Orma has invested heavily in sustainability, especially when it comes to substrates made from natural fibers such as cotton and hemp. Producing them requires a specific carding equipment, which poses some challenges for coil manufacturers.
 
Rising capacity

Factors driving capacity growth vary from region to region, said David Price, head of industry consultancy Price Hanna. "Clearly, worldwide demand for spunlace wipe substrates has declined since its peak in early 2021." He said, "Some of the capacity ordered during the peak period will not be put into use until 2022, and some of the capacity planned to be installed in 2023 will be suspended due to weakening demand."

 

In the past 24 months, capacity expansion has been concentrated in developing regions such as China and Turkey, but even Western companies have tried to seize the opportunity of growth in the wet wipes market. Berry Global recently completed the installation of a spunlace production line in Cuijk, the Netherlands, which allowed it to develop sustainable materials for wet wipes and other applications. Berry recognizes that its customers have set environmental sustainability goals, and the new production line combines the production of biodegradable or recyclable non-woven substrates, allowing Berry to increase its production capacity in Europe by more than 0.3 billion square meters.

 

"This investment further strengthens our industry-leading product portfolio. By installing such flexible production lines in Europe, we can better provide customers with reliable and sustainable solutions for the wipes market." Achim Schalk, executive vice president of the Berry HHS division and general manager of EMEIA, said.
Berry had also planned to add an investment in Spinlace production capacity related to wipes in North America, but later canceled it due to changing market conditions. At the same time, another North American investment is the second spunlace production line from Fibertex Nonwovens in South Carolina, which is now in production and is serving the wet wipes market.

 

At the same time, China is still waiting for new spunlace investment, including the 140000-ton spunlace non-woven fabric project jointly invested and constructed by Zhongtai Group and Nantong Henghui Enterprise. The project is located in Bazhou, Xinjiang, and will start construction in June 2020. It plans to build 12 production lines with a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan. In June 2022, Zhongtai Henghui launched the first spunlace production line and plans to eventually operate 12 production lines with a total production capacity of 140000 tons. The production of Zhongtai Henghui spunlaced nonwovens adopts new environmental protection technology, low energy consumption, no pollution, degradable, in line with the strategic goal of "carbon peak, carbon neutral", and the downstream industrial chain of Zhongtai has been further extended, and has been used to produce disposable face towels, bath towels and other finished products.

 

"Since the start of this year, we have received a lot of orders, especially from customers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong. In order to complete the orders, our workshop implements 24-hour uninterrupted production, with an average daily production capacity of about 45 tons. At this stage, we must put safety and quality in the first place." Xu Weihua, director of the first workshop of Xinjiang Zhongtai Henghui Medical Eisai Co., Ltd., said.

 

"The plant has two lines fully put into production, the third line is in the process of installation, is expected to put into production in May, another four lines are in the process of preparation for installation. After the project is fully put into production, we can reach 100000 tons of spunlace non-woven production scale, while the formation of 2 billion sales, driving 600 people employment. We are confident of the start of 2023." Dai Qinran, deputy general manager of Xinjiang China Thailand Henghui Medical Eisai Co., Ltd., said.

 

In addition, Zhoukou Xuwang Nonwoven Co., Ltd. successfully launched two new Andritz neXline spunlace production lines at its factory in Henan Province. The production line integrates aXcess Wuxi local equipment and eXcelle French imported equipment. It mainly produces spunlace non-woven fabrics made of viscose and polyester fibers, with a weight range of 30 to 120 grams. This production line will enable Zhoukou Xuwang to serve China's high-end product market, especially high-quality disinfectant wipes.

 

Andritz neXline spunlace production line to help Zhoukou Xuwang in reducing raw material consumption at the same time always maintain high quality product level. The PRO35-140 of the Andritz-Aslan-Tebow cross-lapping machine installed will further improve the uniformity of the product over the entire width. After the spunlace production line is installed and put into production, the production line speed is as high as 100 m/min and provides a perfect aspect to strength ratio.

 

Mr. Chen Xiangyong, CEO of Zhoukou Xuwang, said: "We have established a completely customized spunlace production line. This will enable us to produce spunlace non-woven fabrics with high quality characteristics to meet customer needs while maintaining the flexibility and performance of the production line."

 

These are just a few examples of ambitious spunlace investments by Chinese companies looking to invest in advanced production technologies that are more productive and use sustainable raw materials.

 

"So far, China has the highest rate of spunlace new capacity installation." "Both new and existing spunlace producers have responded to the strong demand for wet wipes, while also adding advanced capacity to take advantage of technological advances in productivity and the use of sustainable raw materials, thereby increasing their competitiveness in the global market," Price said."

 

At the same time, the Indian Welspun recently completed the construction of an Andritz neXline spunlace production line, which can process various fibers for the production of non-woven webs and wet wipes for its new factory in Hyderabad, Trengana, India. This line has a capacity of up to 3 tons/hour.

 

The line allows Welspun to process various types of synthetic or natural fibers, such as polyester, viscose and cotton. The end product has a weight range of 25-120gsm and covers a wide range of applications. This neXline spunlace line can also integrate additional intelligent optional components, so Welspun can also produce products for the healthcare and hygiene industries.

 

Also in the Indian market, industry newcomer Tufropes is a global leader in providing rope netting solutions, with the addition of a spunlace CP production line in the Indian state of Gujarat in early 2022. This proprietary improved technology, developed jointly with partners Truzschler and Voight, will enable Tufropes to produce any possible spunlaced nonwoven material, including biodegradable, natural fiber environmentally friendly high-performance nonwovens.

 

Based on the judgment of India's sanitary nonwoven market potential, Turopes decided to enter this market and invest in this advanced sustainable CP production line. Truzschler provides its core equipment, including carding machines and spunlacing machines, and the carding machine NCT forms a high-speed network, giving the end product more flexibility. The production line will also carry out technical transformation on the configuration of the original CP line. On the basis of both the economic benefits of the CP line and the product quality, it can also realize the possibility of producing 5 different environmentally friendly non-woven fabrics. The technology is applying for a patent.

 

Arnaud Laroche, head of spunlace sales at Andritz Perfojet, said the new line investment is a way for nonwovens companies to increase profitability, both by taking advantage of synergies with existing production lines and by achieving more efficient modern processing speeds.

 

He said: "Some nonwovens manufacturers have decided to increase production capacity to improve profitability. This allows them to reduce the unit cost of nonwovens. With long-term accumulated expertise, Andritz provides a compact layout of complete spunlace production lines, enabling customers to build smaller plants and reduce global carbon footprint and emissions."

This article is from Nonwovens Industry Journal
作者：Karen McIntyre

Source: Jung-International Nonwoven Industry Business