International top 40

Nonwovens Industry, Sept, 2008 by Karen Bitz McIntyre, Ellen Wuagneux

Raw Material Prices, Raw Material Prices, Raw Material Prices

That was the key point on nearly every nonwoven producer's mind in this year's Top Company report. How to reduce them, how to pass them on to their customers, how they will trend going forward. With oil prices hitting all-time highs, it's no surprise that most of the nonwovens executives interviewed cited the price of oil-based raw materials as the number one problem facing their businesses moving forward. Most executives have combatted these price hikes by imposing their own price increases on their customers but these measures have only taken nonwovens producers part of the way when it comes to margin erosion. Other measures have included reduced basis weights, streamlined production and alternative raw materials.

Despite these troubles, the nonwovens industry remains a strong and growing market with nearly every producer reporting sales growth and several announcing expansion plans in a number of technologies. On the spunmelt side, Brazilian producers Fitesa and Companhia Providencia have announced plans to enter North America and additional investment is being planned by Pegas in the Czech Republic and PGI in Mexico. Ahlstrom continues to invest heavily in both wipes and filtration and Denmark's Fibertex is focusing on the technical side of its business with new lines in Denmark and the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, Fiberweb and Concert Industries are investing in airlaid technology.

In total, this year's report includes 17 European companies, 14 North American firms, five Japanese producers, two Brazilian manufacturers and an Israeli and a Korean company. Many of these companies are truly global in scope with manufacturing sites located throughout the world.

This year, NONWOVENS INDUSTRY welcomes several newcomers to its fop company report. First Qualify Nonwovens, a long-time maker of spunmelt nonwovens, enters the fop company report for the first time at number 10 this year. First Quality's purchase of Covidien's retail business makes if an integrated producer of spunmelt nonwovens and disposable baby diapers. Also new this year is Fitesa, a Brazilian producer, who appears at number 33.

In addition to the world's 40 largest producers of nonwovens, this year's report includes information about several smaller producers of nonwovens that the editors of NONWOVENS INDUSTRY feel will be extremely important to the nonwovens market moving forward--either in terms of their size or in their technological scope. If you think that your company should be profiled in next year's Top Company report, please let us know.

ONE

FREUDENBERG NONWOVENS

WEINHEIM, GERMANY

www.freudenberg.com

2007 Nonwovens Sales: $1.45 billion

Key Personnel

Management Board: Bruce Olson, president and CEO; Rene Wollert, CFO; Thomas Reibelt, CTO Worldwide Divisions: Dr. Heino Freudenberg, general manager of interlinings; Dr. Jorg Sievert and Dr. Andreas Kreuter, general managers of filter; Christian Marx, general manager Spunlaid; Juan Charlos Borchardt, general manager Southern Hemisphere,; Helmut Beck, general manager industrial nonwovens

Plants

Weinheim, Germany; Neuenburg, Germany; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Greetland, U.K.; Swindon U.K.; Colmar, France; Barcelona, Spain; St. Omero, Italy; Cape Town, South Africa; San Martin/Buenos Aires, Argentina; Jacarei, Brazil; Suzhou, China; Changchun, China; Nantong, China; Yang Mei Tao-Yuan, Taiwan; Tayuan, Taiwan; Durham, NC; Hopkinsville, KY and Pyungtaek, South Korea (Korea Vilene Company); Mumbai, India; Chennai, India

Processes

Drylaid staple fiber, wetlaid, spunbonded, meltblown, electrostatic spun microfiber, needlepunched, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, water entanglement

ISO Status

All locations are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified; locations serving the automotive industry are QS 9000 certified; 21 out of 23 plants are OSHAS 18001 certified

Brand Names

Vilene, Viledon, Vilmed, micronAir, Vlieseline, Vildona, Fliselina, Lutradur, Lutrasil, Evolon, Comfortemp, Vitech, Celestia, Soundtex

Major Markets

Apparel interlinings, filtration, medical, protective clothing, automotive interior trim, electrical insulation, electrical specialties, home furnishings, industrial wipes, hygiene, shoe components, coating substrates, carpet backings, landscape fabrics, geotextiles, agriculture, furniture and bedding and industrial nonwoven specialties

Sales rose just 2% for the world's largest roll goods producer Freudenberg Nonwovens. The Weinheim, Germany-based company reported that economic problems in the U.S. are impacting sales throughout the world and does not expect to see sales grow much more in 2008, according to CEO Bruce Olson.

"Two or three months ago, I would have been more optimistic about growth but we are starting to see negative effects in both the U.S. and in other regions--as a result of economic problems in the U.S.," he said. "How we do going forward will depend on how severe the economic recession gets on a worldwide basis."

While Mr. Olson declined to comment on his company's earnings, he did say that there has been a serious erosion of profitability within the nonwovens industry during the past 18 months, which he blames largely on difficulty among producers to pass on raw material and energy price increases. "We are putting a lot of effort into raising prices. I am spending more and more of my time working with my sales people to more quickly and effectively implement price increases."