The world nonwovens industry: part 1—the leading ten producers, October 2024

The world nonwovens industry: part 1—the leading ten producers, October 2024

In this report, the first in a series of three in which the world’s top 40 nonwovens producers are profiled, Karen Bitz provides the latest information and analysis about the activities of the world’s leading ten producers of nonwovens. For many of the top ten players, sales remained flat or declined during 2023 as demand for nonwovens declined, reflecting a weak economy and a challenging business environment. Having said that, many of the top ten players announced investments in 2024. Freudenberg completed work on a new facility for producing comfortemp thermal insulation in Vietnam and is adding a line in India for producing interlinings. Ahlstrom added a laminator line in Brazil and announced plans to add a molecular filtration media line in Italy, and Fitesa is adding a spunmelt nonwovens line at its site in Sweden. Meanwhile, Kimberly-Clark launched a number of new products incorporating environmentally sustainable nonwovens. However, DuPont announced a plan to separate into three publicly traded companies, and Berry Global entered into a definitive agreement to spin off its Health, Hygiene and Specialties Global Nonwovens and Films (HHNF) business and merge it with Glatfelter.