AALBORG - Danish industrial group Fibertex Nonwovens is looking to capitalize on the booming demand for advanced nonwovens seen in recent years with a fresh DKK 300 million (US$48 million) investment to expand its output capacity and meet the growing need for local production of nonwovens in North America.
The company has also acquired an 84-acre industrial plot adjacent to its existing facilities in South Carolina with a view to expanding further to accommodate demand from North American global brands.
Fibertex Nonwovens, owned by the Danish industrial conglomerate Schouw & Co., has invested heavily in its US presence in recent years: in 2019, it acquired a state-of-the-art spunlacing production facility in South Carolina and last year, the company added a new production line at the site based on advanced needlepunch technology.
A tranche of the new spending has been earmarked for the purchase of a further high-capacity line spunlace line, which will focus on the use of sustainable raw materials. This, said the company, will support its ambition of building a strong position in the North American market, with the total investment expected to bring revenue from its US operations to more than DKK 1 billion within a few years. “Over a period of more than 50 years, nonwovens have evolved into high-tech performance materials used in a wide range of sectors," explained Fibertex Nonwovens CEO Jørgen Bech Madsen, speaking from the company’s head office in Aalborg, Denmark. "In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic led to a dramatic surge in demand for PPEs and disinfection products for the healthcare sector, an area where we’re a frontrunner providing innovative products based on spunlacing, advanced needlepunch, nano and other value-added technologies.”
Madsen also highlighted the substantial growth of the global nonwovens market in 2020, which, he said, was partly driven by the coronavirus pandemic. "We expect to see it grow by a further 8 per cent annually during the period to 2026, regardless of how the coronavirus pandemic evolves," he said. "Especially the North American market is set to see a surge in growth, with demand exceeding supply even before the coronavirus crisis. Fibertex Nonwovens is a major supplier to a wide range of global brands in this market. That’s why we see a special potential in building local production in this market to serve our many customers demanding sustainable products with unique properties.
“Market trends are finding support in the added focus on health and hygiene, more emphasis on local production and added focus on sustainability, which is also to our benefit. With this new investment, we’ll be able to build an extremely strong position in the important North American market for, among other things, high-performance wipes for sanitizing and disinfection purposes in the healthcare/medical sector, sustainable personal care products, a range of industrial applications as well as in the automotive industry and the construction sector.”
The additional capacity will be based on the spunlacing technology, where the fibres of the nonwoven textiles are entangled using high-speed jets of water, and installed at the company’s site in Greenville, South Carolina. This is a technology Fibertex Nonwovens has been perfecting for a number of years and one of the reasons why the company says it is a market leader within special-performance materials and value-added solutions.
“We have a lean, technologically advanced production setup, focused on value-added innovation," Madsen added. "Our North American operations are based in South Carolina and Illinois. Our strategy is: The Right Technology at the Right Location, which is appreciated by our customers in the automotive industry, the healthcare sector and the construction and filtration industries in the USA, Brazil, France, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Turkey and South Africa."
Fibertex Nonwovens operates in a broad range of industries, and ongoing capacity investments and innovation are inherent to its ambitious growth strategy. The investment in the USA forms part of its vision World leader in advanced nonwovens and high-performance solutions, the ambition being to grow revenue from the current level of about DKK 1.8 billion (2020) to some DKK 2.5 billion by 2026:
“Fibertex Nonwovens holds huge potential, which we’re currently unfolding," added Jens Bjerg Sørensen, President and CEO of Schouw & Co. "The coronavirus pandemic has made what we do even more relevant, and this demand is here to stay. In other words, there’s enormous growth potential, and we intend to build on our current position, especially in advanced and high-tech performance materials."
“At Schouw & Co., we have the resources and the commitment to continue the ambitious growth journey for Fibertex Nonwovens. We believe we can identify additional capacity-expanding investments over the coming years and potentially also acquisitions that’ll secure a solid, long-term return for Fibertex Nonwovens.”
The investment to increase the capacity in the USA will not affect the revenue and earnings guidance for the current financial year, the company said.
Fibertex Nonwovens is wholly owned by Schouw & Co. and headquartered in Aalborg, Denmark, where the business was founded in 1968. The company generates annual revenue of DKK 1.8 billion (2020) and has production facilities in Denmark, Brazil, France, the Czech Republic, Turkey, the USA and South Africa as well as sales subsidiaries in France, Portugal, Spain and China.
