Extrusion Group™, LLC

By  Tara Hounslea

EDANA, the international organisation representing the nonwoven and related industries, has joined forces with Business Co-ordination House (BCH) to host training courses on nonwovens and absorbent hygiene products in India in March 2013.
The courses are intended for both technical and marketing personnel, with or without knowledge of the nonwovens industry. Led by Jean-Michel Anspach, the technical and education director at EDANA, the courses offer people from all areas and parts of the nonwovens supply chain to quickly gain a complete understanding of the various technologies, processes, raw materials and market aspects of nonwovens and absorbent hygiene products, as well as recommended product stewardship practices.
Mr Anspach has extensive experience within the nonwovens industry, having worked in it for more than 30 years, and has been the leader of these training courses for the last 10 years.
“There has been a lot of positive movement with reference to the manufacturing of nonwovens in India in the last three years,” said Samir Gupta, managing director of Business Co-Ordination House. “Due to this there is a clear need for well trained human resources in order to take this nonwovens industry forward. I am sure that the EDANA training courses, which are acknowledged worldwide, will prove to be the optimum feed for this need.” (more…)

* Q2 pretax profit 1.5 bln SEK vs consensus 1.4 bln

* Emerging market demand for hygiene products growing

* Little demand growth in Western Europe, North America

* Shares up 5 pct (Adds analyst comment, detail, background, shares)

By Anna Ringstrom and Christopher Jungstedt

STOCKHOLM, July 19 (Reuters) – Demand from emerging markets pushed hygiene and paper products maker SCA’s quarterly pretax profit slightly higher than expected, offsetting weakness in North America and Europe.

Pretax profit at Europe’s biggest tissue and diaper maker was unchanged from a year earlier at 1.5 billion crowns ($216 million).

The result excludes the packaging unit, which SCA sold in June to DS Smith as part of its process of repositioning itself as a hygiene product group, and compares with a forecast for a 1.4 billion crown profit in a Reuters survey.

Personal care and tissue products are less cyclical and have greater market growth potential, particularly in emerging markets, while paper products have been struggling with falling demand. (more…)

By Tara Hounsle Mon Jul 16 2012, 12:06 PM

Companhia Providencia is increasing its nonwoven capacity in Brazil with the addition of a second plant in Pouso Alegre, Minas Gerais. The plant, which will produce nonwovens mainly for the hygienic disposable and medical domestic markets, will produce around 20,000 tons per year.
The company said this investment, in the region of $63m, was a way of strengthening its operations in South America.
“By the end of 2012 the region will account for more than 70% of the company’s production capacity,” said CEO Herminio de Freitas.
He said that the nonwovens industry has grown on average of 10% per year over the last five years in Brazil, compared with average growth of less than 5% of the Brazilian economy during the same period.
“We chose Pouso Alegre, because it is a place where logistics is privileged to receive raw materials and faster service for our customers,” he explained. “In addition to the experience already working in the region, we can also rely on local labour experienced in nonwovens.”
The company now has 62 employees in the region and the new plant will create over 30 direct jobs.
Last year, Companhia Providencia opened its first factory outside Brazil, in North Carolina, USA, in an investment of around $80m. The facilities housed the company’s eleventh production line. This year, the company has expanded production in the country to 40,000 tons/year. The first line has achieved record production while operating fully.
Later this year, the company will reach full production capacity of 140,000 tons/year, an increase of 40% compared with the end of 2011.

Source:  ei.wtin.com

One of the top three players in Resorcinol Formaldehyde Latex (RFL) dipped fabric for tyre and rubber component industry, Ahmedabad-based Sanrhea Technical Textiles is set to double its manufacturing plant of non-wovens. The company is scouting for land to set up a greenfield plant for manufacturing non-woven fabrics for tyre and rubber components industry.

“With the automobile industry growing in the country and especially in Gujarat, we have planned to set up a greenfield manufacturing facility to expand our capacity. Due to scarcity of land in Kalol, we are scouting for land near Ahmedabad which will have an added advantage of proximity to the city,” said Tushar Patel, managing director of Sanrhea Technical Textiles Ltd.

At a capacity of 150 tonnes currently, the company manufacturers of RFL dipped specialised fabrics for the tyre, conveyor-belt, and rubber component industry in India.

According to Patel, the company is looking at add another 200 tonnes of specialised fabrics manufacturing capacity at the new greenfield plant. For this, Sanrhea Technical Textiles is looking to invest about Rs 50 crore.

“We will be playing within the field of mobile textiles or mobi-tech but have started concentrating on fabrics for the bonding of very specialized and critical rubber components or products. All our future growth is targeted towards that,” he added.

The company is also bullish about the upcoming car manufacturing plants of Ford India, Maruti Suzuki and Peugeot in the state of Gujarat. “We will be supplying these specialised fabrics to auto component manufacturers who are vendors of the likes of Ford and Maruti.

This has exhibited extensive growth potential for our business in the coming days,” said Patel.

Among its clientele include the likes of Phoenix Conveyor-Belts India Pvt Ltd. (A Continental AG Company), Sempertrans Ltd, MRF Ltd., Apollo Tyres Ltd. Sundaram Auto Components Ltd., and Zenith Rubber Products Pvt Ltd., among others.

For the financial year 2011-12, the small and medium enterprise (SME) pegged a turnover of Rs 29 crore.

Source:  www.business-standard.com

Vystar® Corporation’s Vytex® NRL is a Critical Component of New Fashion Hygiene Product Line

 ATLANTA and MANCHESTER, England, July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Vystar® Corporation VYST 0.00% , the creator of Vytex® Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) the revolutionary low protein NRL, announces that the non-woven material developer, Tamicare, Ltd., has placed their initial order for Vytex NRL. Vytex NRL is the preferred raw material for the production of their just released Cosyflex® non-woven dynamic fabric that will be used initially in a line of high-end and fashion-oriented disposable undergarments in the growing multi-billion dollar global feminine hygiene and urinary stress incontinence markets. Production of the new Fashion Hygiene(TM) undergarment featuring the Cosyflex fabric will commence shortly and initial delivery to Tamicare’s retail drugstore chain customer is expected to occur later this autumn.

Vytex NRL is a patented, all natural raw material that retains the positive properties of latex including superior barrier protection, tensile strength, tactile sensitivity and elasticity, without the total number of antigenic proteins and other non-rubber particles found in natural rubber latex. Vytex NRL is currently being used as a base material in a number of industrial and consumer applications including adhesives, gloves, balloons, cohesives and foams. (more…)

A commercial method of nickel chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on nonwoven fibers may revolutionize products made for electromagnetic shielding, lightning strike protection, energy storage and a host of other applications that depend on conductivity. Conductive Composites, Heber City, Utah, introduced the CVD-coated nonwovens, which are lighter, thinner and more conductive than nonwovens that are made with conductive fibers. Performance characteristics match or exceed sheets of carbon nanomaterials at a lower price and in an easier-to-use continuous roll format. Every external surface of the fiber is coated and protected, the nonwoven can be wet-processed, and nickel provides corrosion-resistance and magnetic properties.

Source:  specialtyfabricsreview.com

By   Tara Hounslea

Suominen Nonwovens is to close down two production lines at its facility in Nakkila, Finland, as part of its plans to improve profitability. The closure of one thermobond line and one spunlace line will lead to a write down of approximately €3 million, said the company in a statement.
The move will also result in the redundancy of 76 employees from this summer.
The company said the procedure is part of Suominen Corporation’s broader performance improvement programme. The target is to achieve cost savings of the order of about two percentage points on net sales in 2012.

Source:  ei.wtin.com