09.07.23
Porto Alegre, Brazil
www.fitesa.com
2022 Nonwovens Sales: $1.4 billion
Key Personnel
Silverio Baranzano, CEO; Hal Singley, CFO
Plants
Gravataí, Brazil; Cosmópolis, Brazil; Lima, Peru; San Jose Iturbide, Mexico; High Point, USA/NC; Simpsonville, USA/SC; Green Bay, USA/WI; Washougal, USA/WA; Norrkoping, Sweden; Peine, Germany; Trezzano Rosa, Italy; Sulmona, Italy; Rétság, Hungary; Kerkrade, Netherlands; Tianjin, China; Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE; Pune, India; Rayong, Thailand
Processes
Spunbond, SMS, bicomponent, meltblown, carded (chemical bonded, thermal bonded, air through bonded), airlaid, films, elastics, laminates and composites
In 2022, Fitesa continued to focus on investment in its nonwovens business, innovation in new products and sustainability. While 2022 and 2023 have been challenging—with the nonwovens industry suffering from the erosion of household spending power and the rising costs of products and services, Fitesa has been able to continue to invest in new lines at its global sites and create award-winning new products for the hygiene and wipes category.”
“All of (these challenges) are happening while new nonwovens production capacity is coming on stream, creating an oversupply for most of the technologies we manufacture,” says Mariana Mynarski, corporate marketing. “Fortunately, Fitesa was able to rely on its foundations to face this scenario with confidence. We maintained our investment plans, including expansion, new product development and ESG.”
Known for its aggressive investment strategy, which has added hundreds of thousands of new tons of spunmelt capacity globally over the last decade, Fitesa continues to focus on new capacity—not just to grow its business but also to expand it capabilities. The company is currently adding state-of-the-art lines in Norrkoping, Sweden and Simpsonville, SC. These lines, which will feature special capabilities to convert sustainable raw materials and produce high-loft products, are scheduled start up in sometime this year. They are a part of Fitesa’s strategy of increasing capacity for softer and more sustainable products. Both machines will be equipped to produce full high loft and standard spunmelt products, using a variety of biobased and circular raw materials, primarily for hygiene and medical applications
Additionally, Fitesa has finished construction on a spunlace line—the company’s first—in Jacareí, Brazil at a site acquired from Freudenberg Performance Materials in 2019. The new investment will allow Fitesa to enter the South American wipes market, particularly the baby wipes market, offering an expanded product range for its customers in the region.
Fitesa first entered the wipes market through its acquisition of FiberDynamics in 2020. This site, located in High Point, NC, was expanded with the addition of a new meltblown line in 2021.
“Since then, the High Point facility has become the heart of a business focused on the healthcare and household markets, which will become even stronger with the installation of our first line able to produce fabrics with high fluff pulp content,” Mynarski adds. “This will be Fitesa’s first line of its kind and will enable us to expand the U.S. wipes business to hygiene markets and strengthen our competitive advantage with more sustainable substrates for general wipes applications.”
Fitesa has continued to focus on intensive development work at its five innovation centers located around the world. These facilities develop new processes, raw materials and products to meet the markets’ current and future needs. Some of the company’s most successful products, from biobased solutions, soft bonding patterns, and innovative treatments, are a result of the work started in our innovation centers.
www.fitesa.com
2022 Nonwovens Sales: $1.4 billion
Key Personnel
Silverio Baranzano, CEO; Hal Singley, CFO
Plants
Gravataí, Brazil; Cosmópolis, Brazil; Lima, Peru; San Jose Iturbide, Mexico; High Point, USA/NC; Simpsonville, USA/SC; Green Bay, USA/WI; Washougal, USA/WA; Norrkoping, Sweden; Peine, Germany; Trezzano Rosa, Italy; Sulmona, Italy; Rétság, Hungary; Kerkrade, Netherlands; Tianjin, China; Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE; Pune, India; Rayong, Thailand
Processes
Spunbond, SMS, bicomponent, meltblown, carded (chemical bonded, thermal bonded, air through bonded), airlaid, films, elastics, laminates and composites
In 2022, Fitesa continued to focus on investment in its nonwovens business, innovation in new products and sustainability. While 2022 and 2023 have been challenging—with the nonwovens industry suffering from the erosion of household spending power and the rising costs of products and services, Fitesa has been able to continue to invest in new lines at its global sites and create award-winning new products for the hygiene and wipes category.”
“All of (these challenges) are happening while new nonwovens production capacity is coming on stream, creating an oversupply for most of the technologies we manufacture,” says Mariana Mynarski, corporate marketing. “Fortunately, Fitesa was able to rely on its foundations to face this scenario with confidence. We maintained our investment plans, including expansion, new product development and ESG.”
Known for its aggressive investment strategy, which has added hundreds of thousands of new tons of spunmelt capacity globally over the last decade, Fitesa continues to focus on new capacity—not just to grow its business but also to expand it capabilities. The company is currently adding state-of-the-art lines in Norrkoping, Sweden and Simpsonville, SC. These lines, which will feature special capabilities to convert sustainable raw materials and produce high-loft products, are scheduled start up in sometime this year. They are a part of Fitesa’s strategy of increasing capacity for softer and more sustainable products. Both machines will be equipped to produce full high loft and standard spunmelt products, using a variety of biobased and circular raw materials, primarily for hygiene and medical applications
Additionally, Fitesa has finished construction on a spunlace line—the company’s first—in Jacareí, Brazil at a site acquired from Freudenberg Performance Materials in 2019. The new investment will allow Fitesa to enter the South American wipes market, particularly the baby wipes market, offering an expanded product range for its customers in the region.
Fitesa first entered the wipes market through its acquisition of FiberDynamics in 2020. This site, located in High Point, NC, was expanded with the addition of a new meltblown line in 2021.
“Since then, the High Point facility has become the heart of a business focused on the healthcare and household markets, which will become even stronger with the installation of our first line able to produce fabrics with high fluff pulp content,” Mynarski adds. “This will be Fitesa’s first line of its kind and will enable us to expand the U.S. wipes business to hygiene markets and strengthen our competitive advantage with more sustainable substrates for general wipes applications.”
Fitesa has continued to focus on intensive development work at its five innovation centers located around the world. These facilities develop new processes, raw materials and products to meet the markets’ current and future needs. Some of the company’s most successful products, from biobased solutions, soft bonding patterns, and innovative treatments, are a result of the work started in our innovation centers.
