The output of non-woven fabrics in Southeast Asia is quite small from the perspective of Asia as a whole.
According to the non-woven production statistics provided by INDA, China's non-woven production will account for 81% of Asia's total production in 2020. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan together accounted for 9%, and India accounted for about 6%. In the recent research by INDA and EDANA, the '2020-2025 Global Nonwovens Market Survey Report,', the rest of Asia is classified as'Other Asia'. The'Other Asia' region mainly includes Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, as well as smaller suppliers such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. 'The total production of nonwovens in these countries has almost quadrupled in 10 years, and the total output in 2020 will exceed 400,000 tons,' Brad Kalil said.
In terms of trade, China exported nearly 1.4 million tons of non-woven materials in 2020, 54% of which were exported to other Asian countries. According to the report, the two largest importing countries are South Korea and Japan, followed by Vietnam (120, 100 Tons), Indonesia (52,200 tons) and Cambodia (38,200 tons). 'Although some of these countries have non-woven fabric production bases, they also import non-woven fabric materials for conversion, or some materials that are classified as non-woven fabrics, or they may be finished products, such as wet wipes,' Kalil added . In Malaysia, Fibertex Personal Care is adding its sixth non-woven production line in the country, namely Reicofil 5 with spunbond and meltblown capabilities, which will be put into operation in early 2022.
The company's new production line in Malaysia has a production capacity of approximately 100,000 tons per year. 'The Asian market continues to grow and we plan to further strengthen our position here in the next few years,' said Peter Andersen, CEO of Fibertex Personal Care / Innowo Print Malaysia. 'With our central location in Malaysia, we are able to supply the entire Asia. Fibertex Personal Care believes that the increase in the use of disposable diapers is the main growth driver in the region. 'We are very optimistic about the future market in Southeast Asia and will continue to invest in innovation and sustainable growth,' Andersen added. Oceancash is also investing in Malaysia. The company announced last year that its production capacity for non-woven materials used in the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) will be doubled. This Malaysian company produces hot air and hot rolled non-woven fabrics, which are widely used in disposable hygiene products. This investment will double Oceancash's production capacity to 16,000 tons per year.
'We have observed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for non-woven materials has accelerated because PPE is a key raw material for the production of non-woven fabrics. We think this pandemic is a good time for this kind of expansion,' said Oceancash general manager Lor Seng Thee in the announcement. 'We believe that this plan will mark a new and important milestone for the Group and has the potential to improve our revenue growth trajectory. Lor said that the new expansion involves a major upgrade in production technology, which will enable the company to produce three layers of materials for three-layer masks.
'In addition, the non-woven materials from the new plant can be supplied to Oceancash's disposable sanitary products industry, which already has a stable customer base,' Lor said, adding that the company believes that given the improvement in living standards and the effects of this pandemic With higher hygiene awareness, the demand for hygiene products will continue to grow.
At the same time, in Thailand, Fitesa completed the work of its third spinning line in the factory where it acquired a majority stake from CNC in 2018. According to reports, CNCFitesa's multi-beam Reicofil production line in Rayong Province represents a US$70 million investment by this Brazilian nonwovens manufacturer. Prior to the acquisition, CNC operated two spunmelting plants in Rayong Province and a sales office in Tokyo, mainly supplying the sanitary products market.
Also in Thailand, the Japanese nonwovens manufacturer Asahi Kasei is adding a new production line with an annual capacity of 15,000 tons to its subsidiary Asahi Kasei Textile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (AKST). The company produces 35,000 tons of polypropylene spunbond non-woven fabrics annually. Since entering the spunbond business in 1973, Asahi Kasei has been providing Eltas spunbond for a variety of applications, including disposable diapers and other sanitary products, automotive and other industrial applications, as well as deodorant sheets and other consumer products. AKST started operating its second production line in 2016 to meet the rapidly growing demand for spunbond for diaper applications in Asia. The third production line will further strengthen AKST's ability to meet the continuous demand growth with higher product performance, quality and cost competitiveness. Asahi Kasei Asia Pacific Co., Ltd. (AKAP), another division of Asahi Kasei, began operations in 2019 as the regional headquarters of Asahi Kasei's business in the ASEAN region. Asahi Kasei currently has 16 entities in five ASEAN countries. With the steady population growth and continued economic expansion, the company stated that ASEAN is not only an important region for manufacturing, but is also becoming a key market. Therefore, it is determined that the Asahi Kasei Group's regional headquarters in the ASEAN region will be able to effectively manage the increasingly diverse and complex risks. AKAP is located in Bangkok, Thailand. By strengthening marketing and management functions, while supporting the operation of each entity, promoting human resource development, promoting coordination between different entities and improving operational efficiency, it contributes to the further development of Asahi Kasei Group’s business in the ASEAN region. contribute.
Toray is another Japanese nonwoven fabric manufacturer with an annual production capacity of 231,000 tons in five Asian countries including Japan, South Korea, China, India and Indonesia. In Indonesia, its production capacity is 37,000 tons per year. The company mainly produces polypropylene spunbond for sanitary products and polyester non-woven fabrics for industrial filters.
The region is an important market for Toray, as demand is still growing. According to Tatsu Matsushita, general manager of Toray Industries' High Performance Nonwovens Product Division, the company focuses on Indonesia due to its large population. 'We believe that the performance of the [health] market has stable demand growth, and the growth driver will be a large population and a high birth rate,' Panasonic added.
Currently, Toray is working to maximize sales based on its existing production bases in Asia and India. 'The Toray Group has original expertise. By using our technological advantages in each of our production bases in Asia and India, we prepare many products to meet the requirements of each customer. We believe that the demand expansion itself still exists, and our approach is to maximize To fully utilize the advantages of our production network in Asia,” said Konosuke Matsushita, Toray also started internal discussions to advance the next step of its expansion plan to consider this complex market situation very carefully.
Markus said that due to several factors, competition in the nonwovens market in Southeast Asia has become increasingly fierce. Some nonwoven fabric manufacturers in mainland China have invested in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. He said,'This makes the price very competitive.' In terms of supply and demand, “as more and more new players enter the market, the supply is already higher than the demand.”