The Outlook is rather positive

The substantial increase in attendees at last week’s EDANA Outlook conference in Barcelona, Spain (September 26-28) reflects the continued buoyancy of the hygienic disposables market – and especially in the BRIC economies.

Over 360 executives from 33 countries attended the Outlook event last year in Budapest, Hungary, but this year the number swelled to over 450 at Barcelona’s Hotel Rey Juan Carlos.

A presentation by Cao Zhenlei of the China National Household Paper Industry Association (CNHPIA) on the first day of the event provided one clue to what’s currently happening.

The insatiable appetite for hygienic disposables of China alone – with projected growth of over 30% predicted for each year up until 2020 – is certainly accelerating the investment plans of the leading global manufacturers of spunbond nonwovens.

And that’s without taking into account the similar developments in Brazil, Russia and India, as well as in many other developing countries.

Cao Zhenlei told the conference that in 2011 there were some 509 manufacturers of diapers in China – 93 more than in 2009 – although the biggest ten of them account for around 83% of the domestic market and are making significant investments which in the coming years are likely to see some smaller players exit the market as rapidly as they entered.