Nonwoven production continues growing fast. Nonwoven which was evaluated as a product used in special areas a short while ago has now entered into all aspects of life. Reaching the maximum levels at production with ever increasing investments, the nonwoven segment re-determines the borders of the textile sector with growth and investment news coming from Asian Region. The growth of nonwoven production in Turkey and the world is also closely followed. The news which we prepared as Textile World Magazine includes the historical development of nonwoven segment, production process and usage areas etc. besides, in the news study, opinions of the manufacturers highlight the problems of the sector. This study aims at determining the general nature of nonwoven production, general overview of sector and the place of nonwoven in the Turkish textile sector.
Described as a special field beyond the traditional textile sector, Nonwoven is the leading production segment of the global market. Special attention paid to this field by the leading textile manufacturers provides an increase in commercial efforts for nonwoven production. Nonwoven, known as nonwoven fabric or nonwoven surfaces, is used in many areas. Nonwovens which can be summarized as textiles which are not woven and knitted are made by combining/connecting natural or synthethic fibers without knitting through advanced technology processes. Nonwoven products are used in many fields from automotive to home textile, clothing and health with its such features as hydrophilic or water repellant, flexible, soft or tense, antibacterial, disposable or durable etc.
Furthermore, the industrial nonwoven production, which has a history of more than 40 years, stands out with its features such as more economic and less time-consuming production with the use of historical, classical woven and knitting techniques as well as efficiency and cost reduction. It is expressed that usages similar to the nonwoven production were also seen in the old civilisations. For instance, Turks which are known as nomadic people, used products similar to today’s nonwoven to make tents. After these substitute products used as woolen fiber, at the 19th century, the needle punch technique was developed. Following 1940s and 1960s, modern production started in this segment.
Broad Usage Area Shapes the Demand
Advantage of nonwoven products for manufacturers is basically that production stages are less in comparison to the yarn knitting textile, fabric formation process is simple and nonwoven product can be acquired with the desired qualities. Nonwoven products which receive more attention from both manufacturers and consumers as faster and cheaper productions are used in new fields every day. Nonwoven products whose qualities can be changed depending on the usage purpose can be designed as disposable and durable. Under the disposable products category, mostly hygienic products are present. Disposable cleaning clothes, diapers / underpads, wet towels, gloves and masks used by the health workers are among the products of this field. When the long lasting products category is considered, it is seen that nonwoven products are used in many fields ranging from construction, geotextiles/civil engineering, automotive, electronics and agriculture.
Asia Stands Out in Nonwoven Production
When the statistics compiled by EDANA are considered, it is envisaged that the growth of nonwoven sector will continue this year. According to the latest annual statistics of EDANA, nonwoven production displayed a growth of 5,7 % in 2011. In the European region which constitutes 25 % of the global production, total figure reached 1.897.748 tons and 55.740 million square meters. The relatively low increase of 2011 in comparison to the previous year was attributed to the global crisis. In the explanation made by Edana’s Market Analysis and Economical Relations Director, Jacques Prigneaux, it was expressed that spunmelt production increased by more than 9 % in comparison to 2010. Emphasizing that thermo-nonwoven production is stable, Prigneaux expressed that spunlace production recorded a considerable increase. When China is considered as the world’s biggest textile production power, it increased its export to the European Region by 24 % in comparison to the previous year. With these figures, China became the most important supplier of Europe.
When it comes to the increase in the Asian Region, it has become a bit faster than Europe. According to the explanation made by ANFA, the production which was 2.882.225 tons in 2010 reached to 3.096.928 tons in 2011. Although this increase rate was below 13.1 which was the growth rate of the previous year, this was an expected result. Besides, in the report, it is expressed that Asian manufacturers will meet almost half of global nonwoven fabric production in 2020.
When nonwoven production segments of Asian countries are considered, spunmelt production is 45 % while needlpunch, spunlace, thermo-nonwoven, chemical products and disposable wet towels follow it by 26,2 %, 10,9 %, 6,1 %, 5,2 % and 2,1 %, respectively. China has the biggest share among Asian countries. Following China which meets two third of the regional production with its production of 2,054,700, the countries are ranked by their production powers as such: Japan (10%), Korea (7,9 %), India (6,3 %) and Taiwan (5,6 %).
Nonwoven Machine Manufacturers Focus on the European Region
It is evident that European and American manufacturers have been unrivalled in the market in terms of nonwoven technology and machine lines production. However, fast growth in the textile field of Far East Asia showed that new machine manufacturers emerged in this region. Turkish market, however, largely prefers European-origined machines. In nonwoven lines which consist of carding systems, spunbond and spunlace production lines, special productions are made. The firms offering global nonwoven production service include Dilo, NSC (N. Schlumberger Et Cie), Karl Mayer, Menzel, Rieter, Laroche, Swiss Strahm, Italian brand Marzoli, Belgian HDB (Houget Duesberg Bosson), Spanish Margasa, Bonino, İtalian Sicam, Technoplants, İtalian STP Impianti, Automatex, Andritz Kuster.
Nonwoven Production Process
Umbrella organisation of European sector manufacturers, EDANA provides a three-stage production process in the field of nonwoven. As these stages can be realised in different practice fields, these three stages can be realised in a single field in high technology areas: Web formation, web bonding and finish treatments. The processes performed during web formation are include dry processes like drylaid, spunmelt, wetlaid and other techniques. In the web bonding processes, chemical, thermal and mechanical practices are implemented. Fibers constituting the raw material of nonwoven production process can become of various types. Polypropylene, polyester and cellulosic fibers constitute 83 % of the fibers used in this sector. Filament fiber processes are used at the rate of 24 % in this process. When the world production trend is considered, it is seen that the increase in the polyester filament fiber is more than two folds of polypropylene. An important majority of the world market still processes polypropylene fiber.
Umbrella Organisation of European Manufacturers : EDANA
EDANA (European Disposables and Nonwovens Association) which is known closely by many nonwoven manufacturers in Turkey with its activity forms the upper organisation of European nonwoven manufacturers. Established in 1971, the organisation provides support to the European manufacturers with its activities. The organisation holds INDEX fair every three years issues special reports in order to inform global manufacturers. EDANA has more than 220 members, also from Turkey. Another important block is America in the nonwoven production. INDA (Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry), a New York-centered organisation established in 1968, is known as the umbrella organisation of American manufacturers. In Turkey, there is no such organisation but Turkish manufacturers take part in these organisations. In particular, Gaziantep 2nd Organised Industrial Zone is regarded as the nonwoven production center. Beside to Gaziantep, İstanbul, Aydın, Denizli manufacture and host Turkish firms operating in the nonwoven fabrics sector for both domestic market and exporting.
