Fibertex Nonwovens is continuing its expansion strategy with a DKK 300 million (over €40 million) investment in new high-tech capacity at its plants in the Czech Republic and Turkey.
In March 2021, the company announced the same level of investment in a capacity expansion of one of the company’s two plants in the USA. The investment was prompted by increased global demand for the company’s high-tech and sustainable speciality products.
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“Demand for our nonwovens has increased significantly in recent years, particularly for the more specialised applications and high-performance materials for the healthcare sector, industrial products, specialist acoustic products for the automotive industry, nano filtration for industrial purposes, and others," explains Jørgen Bech Madsen, CEO of Fibertex Nonwovens.
"Our business development and research activities over the past ten years have afforded us a leading position in both Europe and the USA, and this is the direct reason for the investment in capacity expansion.”
He adds that the coronavirus pandemic has created a dramatically increased demand for hygiene products, such as disinfectant wipes.
Fibertex Nonwovens is increasingly using the so-called spun lace technology which is a relatively new production method where high-speed jets of water are used to entangle the fibres of the nonwoven textiles.
The company has years of positive experience with this particular technology, and a large share of the investment will be spent on a new spun lace production line at the company’s plant in Svitavy in the eastern Czech Republic:
“We’ve got a lean and high-tech production setup with a clear focus on innovation, and the new production line is to serve the huge demand for disinfection wipes from the healthcare sector. With this new investment, we’ll be able to offer new and sustainable product properties that will help meet the demands of the future in this field."
"At the same time, we are freeing up capacity at several of our other European plants, allowing us to explore new opportunities within the manufacture of acoustic products for the automotive industry and products for filtration,” says Bech Madsen.
Turkish plant, located some 100 kilometres northwest of Istanbul, that Fibertex Nonwovens acquired in 2015, also specialises in spun lacing. The company will expand the capacity on existing lines at the site and add additional lines with finishing and coating capabilities to allow it to manufacture specialised nonwovens products:
“The plant in Turkey complements the production units of our other European and US plants by manufacturing high-tech products. For example, we are experiencing growing demand for various forms of finishing, which allow us to add entirely unique properties to the products,” says Bech Madsen.
Fibertex Nonwovens is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of special-purpose nonwovens produced on high-tech processing facilities with various purpose-specific post-processing. The processed materials are used in cars, the construction industry, for wipes and face masks as well as for filtration solutions, in which they often replace heavier and more environmentally harmful alternatives.
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Fibertex Nonwovens 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.
The investments in Europe and the USA form part of an ambitious growth strategy for the period to 2026. Fibertex Nonwovens generated revenue of DKK 1.8 billion (€ 242 million) in 2020 and is expected to increase the top line to around DKK 2.5 billion (€ 336 million) over the next five years.
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