From the Sector

Kelheim Fibres and SUMO are presenting their high-performance absorbent pads for the reusable Sumo diaper at this year's Cellulose Fibres Conference. The Sumo diaper is a sustainable and washable cloth diaper made entirely from biobased materials, offering high performance and innovative design.

The Sumo diaper offers a reusable alternative, consisting of a waterproof shell and absorbent pads. To enhance the performance of the pads, Sumo collaborated with Kelheim Fibres, a leading viscose specialty fibre manufacturer with decades of experience in the hygiene sector.

Together with the Saxon Textile Research Institute STFI, Sumo and Kelheim Fibres have developed a high-performance absorbent pad that is free of fossil-based materials and has already been awarded the Techtextil Innovation Award. The basis for the innovative construction are Kelheim's functionalized specialty viscose fibres with modified cross-sections, which ensure particularly high absorbency and extremely low rewet values.

To ensure the washability of the product, needle-punched/thermally bonded nonwovens were chosen, consisting of a mixture of specialty viscose and PLA bicomponent fibres. By combining nonwovens, typically used in single-use applications, with reusable products, the partners have chosen a new approach.

Natalie Wunder, project manager at Kelheim Fibres, and Luisa Kahlfeldt, founder and designer of SUMO, explain in their joint presentation at the Cellulose Fibre Conference how open innovation has led to successful development collaboration, how this response to current consumer needs has emerged, and what steps are planned for the future.

The 17^th edition of the WOW will take place July 17-20 2023 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia. INDA announced that registration and tabletop exhibit reservations are open.

WOW 2023 will feature the latest wipes intelligence on the Energy Crisis, Coping with Inflation, Supply Chain Challenges from material availability to import pressures, Market Trends, Plastics Issues such as single use plastics, renegade plastics and microplastics, Sustainability and Traceability from sourcing to end-of-life, Private Label vs. Brand, and Flushability Developments including legislative and labeling efforts, collection studies, and regulatory topics.

The event includes 11+ hours of networking with industry influencers, thought leaders, and C-suite executives. In addition to two nights of tabletop displays and receptions on July 18 and 19, a highlight of WOW 2023 will be Lightning Talks. Tabletop exhibitors will give “supersized elevator speeches” for five minutes. Participants will have the opportunity to follow up with tabletop exhibitors during the reception.

WOW 2023 begins with the WIPES Academy, July 17-18, led by Heidi Beatty, Chief Executive Officer, and her team of wipes professionals from Crown Abbey LLC. Participants will gain insights from product concept to commercialization. Participants will also develop insights about materials, design, manufacturing, packaging, and cost implications for industrial, institutional and consumer wipes applications.

Cotton Incorporated and Rockline Industries are sponsoring the WOW 2023.

Avgol®, a manufacturer of high-performance nonwoven fabric solutions, will use this month’s FILTECH exhibition in Germany to showcase its latest developments in using Algaeing™’s patented algae bio-based formulations for colorants and fibers.

Together with its sister companies from Indorama Ventures Limited (‘IVL’), Avgol will be presenting biotransformation capable fibers and meltblown for diversified end-use markets at the event from 14-16 February. Avgol will discuss with visitors how this new technology and the company’s biotransformative products can help businesses achieve their 2030 sustainability goals.

Algaeing’s technologies utilize various sustainably sourced, vertically farmed algae species to produce a wide range of appealing colors, many of which replicate the colors used in nonwoven fabrics today.

“The benefits of using an algae bio-source go far beyond the removal of chemically synthesized colorants, and include synergistic benefits of vastly reduced water consumption, chemical and fertilizer use, and carbon dioxide emissions,” says Avgol CEO Tommi Bjornman. “We will be demonstrating to FILTECH visitors that following an extensive development path, the fibers both absorb and retain a range of colors - such as vibrant greens and blues – and that we can even deliver a ‘heathered’ appearance for a more natural looking material, all without affecting the filtration, barrier quality or feel of the final product.”

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, has named Mark Snider to the position of Chief Market and Industry Analyst. Snider brings more than 30 years of nonwovens & engineered materials expertise with a strong background in market and industry analysis at both the macroeconomic, industry and segment level.

Before starting his consulting firm sixteen years ago, he supported three divisions as Technical Marketing Manager for Nordson Corporation, and as European and Latin American Regional Manager for J&M Laboratories.

Snider’s industry knowledge, and extensive network combined with his research and analytical skills will provide decision-making data, reports, and presentation to INDA members and the industry.

Snider will expand upon INDA’s membership outreach and research initiated by MaryJo Lilly, INDA’s Market Intelligence Leader, to realize INDA’s new vision for industry intelligence. Lilly will continue to assess strategic market research initiatives and special projects.

The American company WPT Nonwovens invests in a new thermobonding line for filter media. Trützschler Nonwovens teamed up with Schott & Meissner to deliver a state-of-the-art, high-capacity line including the T-BLEND fiber preparation system, two TWF-NC roller cards and Schott&Meissner’s high-speed “Speedliner” belt oven.

Air conditioning systems are not only an integral part of many buildings all over the world. They are vital components in cars, trucks, planes and other. Home and Vehicle Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems often rely on thermo- or through-air bonded nonwovens for air filtering.

WPT Nonwovens is a specialist not only for filtration media but also for nonwovens used in the medical, hygiene and industrial sectors. The US-based company started its business in 2008 and quickly became a trusted supplier of spunbonded, needle-punched, wet-laid and carded nonwovens.

To enable further growth, WPT Nonwovens now decided to invest in a new through-air bonding line. The Trützschler machinery has been selected to ensure reliable fiber preparation and web forming processes for various special, technically demanding filtration media.

The start-up of the through-air bonding line is planned for the 3rd quarter 2023.

• Third edition of Texhibition Istanbul will take place from 8-10 March 2023 at the Istanbul Expo Center
• Organizers focus on growth: more than 25,000 international visitors are targeted for March 2023
• More than 400 exhibitors show fabrics, yarns and accessories at the Istanbul Expo Center
• Trend seminars and trend area with special focus on sustainability presents the trends for spring/summer 2024

The third edition of Texhibition Istanbul Fabric, Yarn and Textile Accessories Fair, 8-10 March 2023 builds on the successful editions of the fair last year. The fair is organized by the Istanbul Textile Exporters' Association (ITHIB) and with the support of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC).

More than 400 exhibitors from the areas of knitwear, woven fabrics, denim, yarns and accessories will present their 2024 spring-summer collections on 15,000 square meters in the Istanbul Expo Center. These include well-known names such as Kipaş, Bossa, Yünsa, Btd, Çalık, Hefa, İskur, Universal, Gülle, and Migiboy.

At the last event in September 2022, a total of 20,606 visitors took the opportunity to start business discussions and place orders. Among them international visitors from 97 countries, including the EU, UK, USA, North Africa and the Middle East. Over 25,000 visitors are expected at the upcoming Texhibition in March 2023 such as large clothing manufacturers, purchasing managers of international chain stores and department stores, managers of international brands and chains with their own brand collections, managers of online sales platforms, importers, wholesalers, distributors, designers, etc.

The trend area at Texhibition will show the spring-summer 2024 trends with a focus on sustainable aspects.

Texhibition Istanbul completes the IFCO, Istanbul Fashion Connection, which takes place from 8.-11. February 2023, also for the third time at the Istanbul Expo Center.

Gunnar Meyer has been assigned the new Managing Director of A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG in Mönchengladbach, Germany, as of January 1st 2023.

He started his career with Monforts and has spent his whole working life in the textile machinery industry. Between 1985 and 2010 he was a key part of the Monforts team in various roles related to sales and commercial issues, including as General Sales Director. He returned to the company in 2019 after working for other well-known German textile machine manufacturers in the field of nonwovens.

“Working in other parts of the textile industry, I have gained a lot of experience in the management of complex technical textile projects and my special focus will certainly be on challenges like the current energy crisis, alternative heating systems and sustainable textile finishing,” stated Meyer.

Avgol®, an Indorama Ventures Limited company, has been honoured with the Supplier Excellence Award by leading global brand Procter & Gamble.

The award was in recognition of Avgol, a leader in the manufacture of high-performance nonwoven fabric solutions, ‘being a notable and valuable supplier over the last fiscal year’ to the P&G Baby Care Business Unit.

Avgol CEO Tommi Bjornman said receiving the honour from P&G for the first time is a source of great pride for the company. “The assessment process for the award focuses on us as the supplier showing outstanding contributions across a range of key categories,” he said. “I am delighted and proud that the Avgol team was unanimously identified as being strongest in terms of our collaboration with the customer, as well as in our continuous improvement efforts across all regions of P&G’s global Baby Care program.

“It was heartening that, in making the award, P&G further noted that Avgol’s efforts have significantly assisted in their own commercial growth during a challenging period for the Hygiene market,” he said.

In 2018, Indorama Ventures Limited (IVL), a leading petrochemicals producer and global integrated leader in PET and fibres, acquired majority ownership of Avgol, resulting in a focused and faster growth of Avgol Nonwovens.

“With the combined financial, technical, commercial strength and expertise of Avgol and IVL, Avgol has been working hard to develop innovative products, putting sustainability front and centre in our plans for the future and ensuring we deliver the very best product and service to our customers around the world,” said Tommi Bjornman.

ANDRITZ has organized a customer day fully dedicated to the absorbent hygiene products value chain on November 09, 2022. This event took place at the ANDRITZ Diatec premises in Pescara, Italy, with a variety of key players from the nonwovens industry coming from all over Europe and beyond.

At this event, attendees benefited from live demonstrations of converting lines, market and nonwoven production insights, a panel discussion on sustainability, and networking opportunities, including:

• Recent market situation, trends, and some food for thoughts
• Technology insights for nonwoven roll-good production: Spunjet Soft, Air-Through Bonding, and Spunlace
• Company tour with live demonstration of converting lines
• Panel discussion on sustainability accompanied by important industry players around the value chain

• Potential loss of competitiveness, caused by the EU’s inaction of the energy crisis, and Chinese and US subsidies to domestic industry

Following yesterday’s European Council summit and its conclusions on the measures to tackle the energy crisis, the European textiles industry is extremely concerned about the fast loss of competitiveness of Europe and demands urgent action to save the industry.

The chain of factors determining this sharp decline in competitiveness is twofold. First, the energy cost in Europe is more than 6 times higher than in the US, China, and neighbouring countries. This factor alone has almost erased the business case for producing in the EU. At present, many textiles and clothing companies are producing at net loss or have shut down production. The industrial conditions have worsened in such a way that there is no business case to invest in Europe or buy products produced or processed in the EU. It is only the sense of responsibility of the entrepreneurs towards the European society that is keeping the plants and production running.

Secondly, while the EU is passive and extremely slow in articulating a credible and effective response to the energy crisis, the main international competitors and trade partners (China, India and the US respectively) have developed comprehensive state-aid frameworks for their domestic industry despite not being affected by this crisis at all. The latest example is the 369-billion-dollar scheme of the Inflation Reduction Act rolled out by the Biden administration.

Recent trade data  already indicate a loss of global competitiveness: imports to the EU have grown tremendously in 2022 (+35% year-to-date). It is also evident that the surge in imports goes in parallel with the surge of natural gas price. It is expected that energy prices will remain high and volatile, opening the door for imports to gain substantial market shares in the EU.

The chart indicates the development of the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) until September 2022 since Eurostat data for Q4 2022 has not been published yet. Euratex is aware that the market situation has eased somewhat since in the past months, but the crisis remains because gas prices are still extremely high in comparison to last year. This suggests that the current loss of competitiveness of the EU manufacturing will not be recovered even with lower energy prices, unless measures are taken to correct the unlevel playing field on which the EU industry has to operate in the international markets. Only with an ambitious and comprehensive relaunch plan at EU level, Europe will be able to restore its credibility as a global manufacturing powerhouse and investments.

If the status quo is maintained, not only the EU will not be able to recover its competitive position on the global business stage, but it will also fail its plans to reach zero-net emissions and achieve circularity. It is evident that these ambitions - that the industry is passionately supporting - need massive capital investments. However, in the current scenario an investments diversion can only be expected to markets where governments are actively supporting those investments and energy costs are much lower – regardless of their fossil- or non-fossil origin.

The European textiles industry – the whole value chain, from fibres, nonwoven, to fabrics, clothing manufacturers - are facing unprecedented pressure deriving from the current geopolitical situation, the new macroeconomic conditions and unfair competition from third states. The situation is going to worsen if no emergency action is taken, especially because a recession is expected in the coming months.

The main structural component of the EU manufacturing are SMEs: these are economic actors that are particularly exposed to the current crisis as they do not have the financial leverage to absorb the impact of energy prices for much longer. Urgent EU action is needed to ensure their survival.

EURATEX calls on the EU political leaders in the Commission, in the European Council and in the national capitals to:

1. Raise the ambition and adopt a comprehensive approach at EU level: energy, state-aid and trade policy must be brought together in a single strategy with concrete emergency solutions and with a clear SME dimension;
    
2. Let all hesitations aside and adopt a meaningful price cap on natural gas wholesales, that should be ideally no higher than 80 euro/MWh. In parallel, it should also be ensured that electricity prices are brought to a sustainable price level;
    
3. Change the European posture on state-aid, even temporarily. An ambitious plan of investments and state-aid in green technologies to support the industrial transition should be rolled out.

Such a plan, however, should not be conceived as a retaliation against our most necessary and like-minded trade partners. Access to finance and markets must be safeguarded for all those actors who are capable and willing to invest in Europe, on the basis of reciprocity. In   these challenging times for geopolitical stability, ensuring strong trade ties with our traditional allies and partners is of utmost importance. The roll-out of an investment and state aid plan should not interfere, but rather support, the dialogue with the US (and other partners) and the deepening of our trade and investment partnership. Such a dialogue should be accelerated in the context of the TTC as well as at WTO level.