TechTex IndiaFocusing on Technical Textiles, Nonwovens & Composites

Jan - Jun 2012 Vol.6, Issue 1 & 2, Rs. 20

BCH Newsline

www.bch.in

Movers & Shakers ofThe Disposable Hygiene Industry

Kao Group

Medline Industries Inc.

Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

Ontex

RKW- Group

SCA

Tredegar Corporation

Unicharm Corporation

Ahlstrom Corporation

Associated Hygienic Products LLC

Buckeye Technologies Inc.

Domtar Corporation

Fibertex Personal Care

Fiberweb PLC

Indorama Ventures PCL

ITW Dynatec

Mr. Andreas Lukas,Indian Auto Industry Ends

2011-12 on a Positive Note

Pg 14

Single - use vs.

Reusable Gowns & Drapes

Pg 36

AgroSAF™ : TAL's Specialized

Superabsorbent Agro Textiles

Pg 42

2

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Reproduction of any of the contentand illustration from this issue isforbidden unless prior writtenpermission is obtained from thepublisher.

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Editor

Ritika Gupta

Owner

Samir Gupta

“2020 is going to witness a new bold, organized and a strong

face of India as majority of its population would be literate and

earning well enough. The trend is to weave sustainability into

business plans and technical textiles into their

implementations”.

2012 started with a big bang when BCH organized the symposium with the hope

that year 2012- 13 will hold a lot of crisp news related to the right kind of nonwoven manufacturing in India. We are

expecting to hear a number of announcements kicked by the simple economics of demand overpowering supply of

nonwovens in the country. The symposium proved to be an eye opener not only to the attendees but also to the

industry stalwarts and a good mix of opportunities supported with knowledge churned out leaving potential investors

with enough food for thought.

India has recently been ranked amongst the worst in the global entrepreneurial performance according to a report

published recently, where it stands at the 73 position out of the 78 nations ranked in the

Too much regulation and limited education opportunities topped with red tapism are the main

barriers to growth but I strongly feel that things have started moving in the positive direction and will surface up in the

coming five years. It is time for the industry to come out of their comfort zone and strive to venture in high tech

innovative products and create a market in India now - as it has happened in other countries including China. One

needs to look at challenges in their face in order to succeed. 2020 is going to witness a new bold, organized and a

strong face of India as majority of its population would be literate and earning well enough.

New materials are lighter, stronger, and durable than old ones. As we all know carbon fibre is replacing steel in many

applications and nanotechnology is adding further product development in the ever growing technical textiles

industry. Moreover the retail industry in India seems to be having a time of its life. Products are changing, retail

formats are changing, lifestyles & consumer thinking is changing, international feel is being well accepted and the

consumption is breaking all barriers. On the other hand India is witnessing tremendous growth in the infrastructural

development & with it comes in a lot of talk about energy efficiency. Technical textiles play a significant role not only in

the renewable energy sector but also in making buildings & structures energy efficient. This area is sure to look out for

with the growing gap between demand & supply of energy.

The trend is to weave sustainability into and technical textiles into their With this I wish

you all a very good year 2012 and those linked with the hygiene and medical industry, please save the dates 6 - 8 of

March 2013 for and which are going to be held for the first time in India in New Delhi. This

industry is on our cover this time and is witnessing amazing action all over the world.

'How to make the right nonwoven'

global entrepreneurship and

development index.

business plans implementations.

rd

th th

Outlook Asia InControl

Take a look and enjoy analyzing!

Jan - Jun 2012

Good to Know...

Indian Auto Industry Ends 2011-12 on a

Positive Note

The Use of Nonwoven Needle Punched Banana

Fibre in Dry Filtration

Movers & Shakers of the Disposable Hygiene

Industry

Basalt Fibre Gaining Ground

Biopolymers for Nonwovens– Exceptional

Expansion for Ingeo Fibers Made from Plants,

Not Oil

Medical Textiles: Indian Wet Wipes

Market: Finally Taking - off

Medical Textiles: Single - use vs. Resuable

Gowns & Drapes

Transport Textiles: Carbon Fibre Composites

Usage on Light Combat Aircraft–TEJAS Airframe

Agro Textiles: AgroSAF™: TAL's Specialized

Superabsorbent Agro Textiles

BCH at ANEX 2012

Jan - Jun 2012

12

27

28

37

45

Medical Textiles: Advanced Wound Care

Making Advances...

34

Teijin 20

Indian market has always behaved

differently than the global markets like US &

EU. BCH’s Techtex India is catching the

pulse of nonwoven market for the Indian

subcontinent, in such a way which we

always missed in other nonwoven journals

being published elsewhere.

Wishing great future to BCH, and entire

Indian nonwoven industry.

BCH has done a commendable job in

bringing out this newsletter which acts as an

industry platform to help potential investors

to tap opportunities in the technical textile

industry

I was impressed by the detailed level of

information in your periodical TechTex India

I always look forward to recieving TechTex

India and I have treasured all the copies as

worthy references of the technical textiles

industry

Rahul Bansal, Birla Cellulose (Grasim

Industries Ltd.)

Ajay Sahni, Ahlstrom Fibercomposites

India Pvt. Ltd.

Ankit H. Desai, U. K.

Sumit Sharma, India

Events Concluded - Spreading the Word... 24

Dilo 11 ITME 37

51 Dornbrin MFCst

17 ANEX 2012 44

Reicofil 6 32GDM

Product in Focus 33

The corporate sector related to the disposable

hygiene industry all over the world is restructuring its

operations through mergers and acquisitions in an

unprecedented manner in order to successfully

overcome the challenges posed by globalization. One

of the striking features of the present mergers and

acquisitions scenario is the presence of a large

number of cross-border deals, which is an easier way

of internationalization comparing Greenfield mode of

entry.

Amidst so much action it becomes imperative to

understand the nature, extent and structure of these

deals which are multi faceted involving many aspects.

As per one of the studies conducted by the (Centre For

Development Studies, India), these type of deals

involve mainly four types of mindsets which are the:

1)The Resource Seekers

2) The Strategic Asset Seekers

3) The Market Seekers

4) The Efficiency Seekers

This group which is investing globally for obtaining

specific resources at lower prices.

This group includes the firms, which try to sustain or

enhance their international competitiveness or

weaken that of other firms through acquiring the

assets of foreign corporations.

As the name suggest, these are firms, which seek new

markets in order to expand and strengthen their

operations outside the home country.

These are firms, which try to operate more efficiently

by deriving economies of scale and scope and by

reducing risk. They are mainly aiming to take

Movers & Shakers of the

Disposable Hygiene IndustryIntroduction

It certainly takes two to

tango... As the disposable

hygiene industry is learning

the art of dancing to the

rhythm of globalization, it is

interesting to note the rock and

roll being experienced by way

of mergers and acquisitions

and joint ventures all aiming

towards rapid expansions. This industry seems to have

been smitten by the bug

wherein there seems to be no stopping on global

restructuring by the leading companies of the world.

You name it and they are all there -

to the tunes being played by the different

markets of the world .

'first come first serve fever'

moving and

shaking

Looking closely at the disposable hygiene industry

encompassing a huge range of products ranging from

diapers which may be for babies or adults, feminine

hygiene products , adult incontinence products, wipes and

many more – there has been a lot of movement in the

entire value chain. Some companies want to sell off their

non performing arms to strengthen their positions where

as some want to add to their product portfolio. Some want

to concentrate on some

regions whereas some

want to reach out to the

world. Some aspire to be

leaders in innovation

whereas some are looking

at volumes. Some want to

ride on others' strengths

while some want to

leverage their own.

Mindsets may be different

but objective is the same

But what is of prime importance to note is that this

particular industry is seeing movement on account of

only one reason and that the whole new chunk of the

world population is turning into a user category from a

non user category. This alone has set the ball rolling.

The markets are moving and dragging behind them the

convertors, the raw material producers , the machinery

manufacturers and the facilitators. Its action time and no

stone is being left unturned to complement this situation.

–Expand and Outperform.

Firms undertake mergers and acquisitions in

order to:

Access strategy proprietary assets

Gain market power and market dominance

Achieve synergy plans

Become larger

Diversify and spread risks

Exploit financial opportunities

Reap personal benefits

�

�

�

�

�

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advantage of different factor endowments, cultures,

institutional arrangements, economic systems and

policies and market structures by concentrating

production in a limited number of locations.

Cover Story

4Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

Ahlstrom Corporation, a

global high performance

m a t e r i a l s c o m p a n y,

estimates that the transfer of the Brazilian operation of

its former wipes fabrics business, Home and Personal,

to Suominen Corporation will take place in the second

quarter of 2012. Ahlstrom had previously anticipated

that the transfer would have taken place in the first

quarter of 2012. The transfer is subject to the acquiror

receiving all necessary Brazilian regulatory permits for

its operations. The Home and Personal business area

excluding the Brazilian part of the operation was

transferred on October 31, 2011 to Suominen

Corporation. Receiving an approval from the

competition authorities in Brazil is not a prerequisite

for completing the transaction.

Ahlstrom to Complete the Transfer of

Brazilian Wipes Business

B u c k e y e

Te c h n o l o g i e s

Inc. announced

that it has signed

a definitive agreement to sell the assets and ongoing

operations of its Merfin Systems Converting Business to

National Tissue Company, LLC. Merfin Systems, located

in King, North Carolina, is a converter of towels, tissue

and napkins which it sells along with proprietary paper

product dispensers into the away from home market. It

sells these products through selected distributors

concentrated in the eastern U.S. and Canada. National

Tissue is a privately owned converter located in

Cudahy, Wisconsin. National Tissue markets sells its

broad product line primarily through small and mid-

sized distributors located in the Midwest. National

Tissue's President, Mike Graverson, said, “Merfin is an

excellent fit and will complement National Tissue's core

business. ”We believe this opens up new horizons for

this fine company, and enables Buckeye to deploy the

proceeds into its strategic operations.” The sale along

with associated liquidation of working capital is

expected to generate approximately $6 million in cash.”

Buckeye, a leading manufacturer and marketer of

specialty fibREs and nonwoven materials, is

headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. The

Company currently operates facilities in the United

States, Germany, Canada, and Brazil.

Domtar Corporation announced the

completion of the acquisition of

privately-held Attends Healthcare

L imi ted (“At tends Europe”) ,

manufacturer and supplier of adult

incontinence care products in Europe, from Rutland

Partners for €180 million, pursuant to a definitive

agreement entered into on January 26, 2012. Attends

Europe sells and markets a complete line of branded and

private-label adult incontinence care products distributed

through several channels, with sales organizations in nine

European countries. The company has 413 employees

and operates a world-class 374,000 square foot (34,000

square meter) manufacturing facility with eight

production lines, a research and development center and

a distribution center in Aneby, Sweden, along with

distribution centers in Scotland and Germany.

Domtar Completes Attends Europe

Acquisition

Buckeye Announces Sale of Non-Core Merfin

Systems Converting Business

I T W D y n a t e c E u r o p e

announced the acquisition of

Inatec GmbH, designers and

manufacturers of hot melt

adhesive application systems

located in Langenfeld, Germany. “The purchase of

Inatec GmbH further strengthens ITW Dynatec´s

position as a premier adhesive applications provider to

the coating & laminating markets worldwide. Inatec

GmbH has several unique adhesive application

technologies that greatly complement our industry-

leading non-contact products such as Uniform

FibREDeposition (UFD™) and DeltaFx™. Furthermore,

Inatec´s expertise in the reactive adhesives (PUR)

markets will allow ITW Dynatec to further position itself

as a leading adhesive application solutions provider to

global markets including technical textiles, automotive

and filtration,” said Christof Schotten, Vice

President/General Manager World Wide ITW Dynatec.

“Inatec GmbH is an ideal fit to our growing adhesive

application business and we look forward to working

with the innovative and experienced people of Inatec.”

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. ITW Dynatec

provides industry leading adhesive application

solutions for the Disposable Hygiene, Coating &

Laminating and Packaging markets operating with

subsidiaries in North America, Europe, and Asia with an

extensive worldwide sales & service network.

ITW Dynatec Acquires Inatec Innovative

Auftragstechnologien GmbH

...contd

Listed below are some crisp happenings which have shaken the disposable hygiene industry in the last

8- 9 months for a better future in times to come...

Cover Story

5Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (hereinafter

called "MCI") with its head office in

Tokyo, Japan announced plans to form a

new company for production and sales

of spunbonded nonwovens in response

to growing needs of the disposable

diapers market in China. As a fundamental strategy in its

2011 mid-term business plan (2011-2013), Mitsui

Chemicals targets strengthening of businesses resilient

to changing economic conditions and positions hygienic

spunbonded nonwovens as a growth driver. Mitsui

Chemicals has continued to develop its hygienic

spunbonded nonwoven operations in East and SouthEast

Asia to respond to stepped up demands of

manufacturers in these areas. Domestically, the

company's wholly owned subsidiary, Sunrex Industry

Co., Ltd. (Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture) operates Japan's

largest spunbonded nonwoven production facility while

overseas, the company has equally state-of-the-art

facilities at its wholly owned Mitsui Hygiene Materials

Thailand Co., Ltd. (Thailand). Expansion of the market

for added value, high quality products is forecasted to

continue. The new company's cutting edge is based on

Mitsui Chemicals' across the board technology in resins

and materials development and nonwoven

manufacturing processes and targets to strengthen the

Company's presence by meeting the demands of the

high quality market in China. The production base for

spunbonded nonwovens in China will complete the

Company's network covering three strategic market

areas in Asia and reinforce Mitsui Chemicals'position as

the top provider of spunbonded nonwovens in Asia.

New Company for Production and Sales of

Spunbonded Nonwovens in China

Associated Hygienic

Products LLC (AHP) is

pleased to announce the

acquisition of assets of

Arquest, Inc. AHP is a

wholly owned subsidiary of Disposable Soft Goods

International, a privately held global company that also

manufactures baby diaper & baby pants, and adult

incontinence products, at production facilities located

throughout Southeast Asia and China. AHP has been

manufacturing and marketing disposable baby diapers

and training pants for retailers in North America since

1984, and is one of the largest suppliers of private label

diapers in the USA. Arquest, Inc. is a privately held

company founded in 1991 as part of a spin-off from

Johnson & Johnson. They are a major supplier of Private

Label disposable baby diapers and training pants in the

United States, headquartered in Cranbury, New Jersey.

This strategic acquisition effectively blends the mutual

strengths of industry longevity, category commitment

and expertise, strong product innovation, technically

strong and well experienced associates, supply chain

superiority, manufacturing synergies and solid retail

partnerships. A key attribute of the acquisition is that it

expands AHP's customer list, clearly positioning it as

the largest supplier of private label baby diapers in

North America. Another strategic motivation is that the

two companies share a strong cultural commitment to

their products, customers, and the consumer. The

combined companies will provide the broader scope and

purchasing power needed to compete against long-

standing National Brand programs.

Associated Hygienic Products LLC Acquires

Assets of Arquest Inc.

The RKW-Group has started production

at its first plant in Egypt. The company

built a totally new manufacturing

facility in Cairo in less than 16 months.

RKW's new plant has been located near

to Procter & Gamble Egyptian diaper manufacturing plant.

Procter & Gamble is one of the leading global consumer

goods companies respected for their quality and service.

Their baby care business focuses on growing where the

babies are, to aid the healthy happy development of

babies everywhere. Procter and Gamble strategically

partners with RKW to purchase films and nonwoven

products for diaper manufacturing and has awarded RKW

a “Supplier of Excellence Award” over 3 consecutive

years. This partnership has been founded on an aligned

strategy to improve the lives of the worlds consumers. In

particular this RKW investment in Egypt localizes material

supply for Procter & Gamble which in turn reduces the

carbon footprint of diaper materials, develops the local

Egyptian economy improving everyday life for Egyptians

and ensures consumers have the their brand of choice.

New RKW Plant in Cairo Inaugurated

Further to the announcement on

11 November 2011 relating to

the disposal of its hygiene

b u s i n e s s , t h e C o m p a ny

announced that the transaction completed as expected

on 30 December 2011.

Fiberweb PLC announced that it and its wholly-owned

subsidiary, Fiberweb Holdings Limited, have entered

into binding agreements for the sale of the Hygiene

Business to Petropar S.A. ("Petropar") for a total cash

consideration of US$286 million (approximately £179

million), comprising of US$260 million payable on

completion and the issue of a US$26 million

Guaranteed Note, payable by Petropar by 31

December 2012, and attracting a 6% interest rate.

Completion of the Sale of the Fiberweb

Hygiene Business

Cover Story

7Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

...contd

Unicharm to acquire a 95.0% stake in

Vietnamese company Diana JSC

Unicharm Corporation

announces that through

its subsidiary Uni-Charm

(Thailand) Co., Ltd, has

s i g n e d d e f i n i t i v e

agreements to acquire 95.0% of total outstanding

common shares of Diana Joint Stock Company , a leading

Vietnamese hygiene product manufacturer and

distributor. Diana is one of the leaders in hygiene product

manufacturing and distribution in Vietnam, with a strong

portfolio of brands as well as a solid distribution network

across the country, including distribution to traditional

general trades. Its core brands – “Diana” of feminine care

products and “Bobby” of baby diapers – both hold the 2

largest market share in Vietnam and are highly

recognized.

Unicharm decided to acquire Diana with the aim of

realizing synergies through product enhancement,

product line-up reinforcement and implementation of a

lean production system. Unicharm group has an objective

to achieve a dominant position in Asia as outlined in the

Global 20 Plan, and has been developing its absorbent

material product business such as feminine care and

baby care in each region of the ASEAN markets.

Through the combination of Diana's expertise in

marketing and distribution and Unicharm's capabilities in

product development and manufacturing, Unicharm aims

to accelerate its business in Vietnam, where the hygiene

product markets will grow rapidly in parallel with

economic and population growth. The acquisition also

represents Unicharm's continued commitment in Asia.

nd

Tr e d e g a r C o r p o r a t i o n

announced that its subsidiary,

Tredegar Fi lm Products

Corporation, has completed

the acquisition of Terphane Holdings LLC

("Terphane"), a leading manufacturer of specialty

polyester films with operations in Brazil & the United

States. The approximate purchase price of $188

million was funded using available cash on hand and

financing secured from Tredegar's existing $300

million credit facility. The acquisition is expected to be

accretive within the first year following the

acquisition. Terphane is a market leading producer of

thin polyester films in Latin America with a growing

presence in strategic product niches in the United

States. Commenting on the acquisition, Nancy Taylor,

Tredegar's President and CEO, said, "Welcoming

Terphane to the Tredegar family provides us with

significant opportunities to broaden our product

portfolio and end-use markets and grow in a key

global region. Terphane’s strengths in films

manufactur ing, technology and product

commercialization align well with those of Tredegar

Film Products. Much like Tredegar Film Products,

Terphane enjoys deep, long-term relationships with

global customers in Latin America, which is one of the

fastest-growing geographic markets in the world."

Monica Moretti, President of Tredegar Film Products,

commented, "We are thrilled to join forces with

Terphane, an established, successful, and growing

company in Brazil, which gives us a much larger

presence in Latin America.

Tredegar Corporation Announces Acquisition

of Terphane

Fibertex Personal Care will

be investing USD 55m in a

state-of-the-art production

line in Malaysia. The facility

will be in operation within

two years and increase the total production capacity by

30%. Fibertex Personal Care, one of the world's leading

suppliers of spunbond for the hygiene industry, will now

be making a large, new investment by expanding their

production capacity.

Only two years ago, the company announced a similar

investment of USD 49m, now fully implemented, and

today, the Danish company holds six production lines in

Denmark and Malaysia. With this new investment, the

production facility in Malaysia will reach a total capacity

of 70,000 tons during the next two years. Fibertex

Personal Care is a subsidiary 100% owned by industry

conglomerate Schouw & Co.

Ontex, Europe's leading

manufacturer of private-

label hygienic disposable

products, is pleased to

a n n o u n c e t h a t t h e

a c q u i s i t i o n o f L i l l e

Healthcare has been completed. Lille Healthcare

operates across Europe and Australia selling

incontinence products to institutional healthcare

customers under the Lille brand and private label

products to retailers. Turnover in the year to 31st

December 2010 amounted to EUR 76,800,000.

Commenting, Ontex CEO Michael Teacher states: “We

have been an admirer of Lille Healthcare for some time

and believe that its addition to the Ontex Group will

make our offer more attractive in the growing

incontinence market across all the geographies in

which Lille Healthcare operates.”

Ontex has Acquired Lille HealthcareFibertex Personal Care Makes USD 55m

Investment in Asia

...contd

Cover Story

8Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

The acceptance of SCA´s binding offer

follows the privatization of Everbeauty

under Taiwanese law. As a result, a

sale and purchase agreement has been

signed by SCA and the sellers.

On February 25th 2012 it was

announced that SCA had delivered a

binding offer to acquire Everbeauty, a

leading Asian personal care products

company with sales in China, Taiwan and Southeast

Asia.

The company produces and markets baby diapers and

incontinence care products with strong brands such as

Dr P for incontinence care products and Sealer for baby

diapers. Following the signing of the sale and purchase

agreement by the parties, the process will continue

towards completing the acquisition, which will include

seeking the approvals and clearances from relevant

authorities in Taiwan. Closing of the deal is expected to

take place in the summer of 2012.

SCA has decided to form a joint venture

partnership for its existing operations

in Australasia with the Australian

company Pacific Equity Partners (PEP).

SCA and PEP Fund IV will each hold

50% of the company. Working with

local partners and in joint ventures in

selected markets is a strategy that

works well for SCA. This deal in

Australasia enables a more efficient financing as well as

it increases the speed of development of the

operations. SCA's operations in Australia, New Zealand

and Fiji employ about 1,500 people. In 2010, this

business had net sales of SEK 4,400m, with some 70%

related to tissue and some 30% related to personal care

products. In the region, SCA manufactures and

markets a number of leading brands including TENA,

Tork, Sorbent, Purex, Libra, Treasures, Deeko and

Handee Ultra. The transaction involves a

deconsolidation of the business, which will be

financially reported as a joint venture according to the

equity-share method. In connection with the

refinancing of the business and the divestment of 50%

of the equity, SCA will receive SEK 3,200m. Also, there

will be a SEK 700m write-down of the tangible book

value, which will impact the result in Q4 2011. “This

deal strengthens our operations in Australia and New

Zealand, and it secures our access to local competence

and the local capital market.The deal will be subject to

approval from relevant authorities. Closing is expected

to happen within two to three months.

SCA is acquiring the Brazilian hygiene

products company Pro Descart.

Consideration for the deal amounts to

SEK 450m on a debt-free basis. The

company has annual sales of SEK

360m. Brazil is the most highly

populated country in South America,

with 190 million inhabitants and a

favourable economic growth. The

market for hygiene products has a good growth

potential, this applies especially for incontinence care

products, having shown double digit growth.

“I am very happy that we are now establishing

ourselves in Brazil, which is also of strategic

significance,” comments Jan Johansson, President and

CEO of SCA. We have for some time worked on finding

the right solution for entering this important emerging

market. With this acquisition of Pro Descart, we now

have a presence throughout Latin America.”

Pro Descart is a family-owned company focused on

incontinence care products, but also sells baby diapers

and wet wipes. The company, with approximately 400

employees, has manufacturing in the Sao Paulo area.

“Pro Descart has a number two position in Brazil's

incontinence care market.

In view of the fact that SCA is the world leader within

incontinence protection with its TENA brand, we have

good opportunities to develop our new Brazilian

operation,” adds Jan Johansson.

“

SCA's Binding Offer to Acquire Georgia-pacific’s

European Tissue Operations has Been Accepted

Georgia-Pacific´s acceptance of SCA's

binding offer follows consultations

with appropriate works councils. As a

result, a sales and purchase

agreement has been signed by both

parties. The process will continue

towards finalizing the acquisition,

including the approvals by relevant

competition authorities and further

local consultation processes. November 10th, 2011, it

was announced that SCA had delivered a binding offer

to acquire Georgia-Pacific´s European tissue

operations. Georgia-Pacific has a well-established

presence in Europe in both Away-From-Home and

consumer tissue products. The company's products are

in particular marketed with the well-known Lotus

brand. Georgia-Pacific's European tissue operations

have approximately 5,000 employees and 15

production sites in seven countries. Sales in 2010

amounted to EUR 1.25bn (SEK 11.9bn).

SCA’s Binding Offer to Acquire Everbeauty

has Been Accepted

SCA Establishes a Joint Venture in Australasia

with Pacific Equity PartnersSCA Acquires Hygiene Products Company in

Brazil

Cover Story

9Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

...contd

SCA is acquiring 95 percent of the

Turkish hygiene products company

San Saglik, producer of incontinence

care products, from the family-owned

M T G r o u p . T h e p u r c h a s e

consideration corresponds to SEK

95m on a debt-free basis. San Saglik

has rapidly captured market share

since the company was founded in 2008, and is now

the second largest player in incontinence care

products in Turkey. The acquisition comprises local

production and access to strong brands. “The

acquisition of San Saglik supplements the acquisition

of Komili, producer of baby diapers, feminine care

products and toiletries, which was announced

recently. SCA will have a complete personal care

product portfolio in Turkey. The strong distribution

network in retail that we accessed through Komili is

now also extended to healthcare. Turkey is an

important growth market with 70 million inhabitants

and a rapidly growing population,” says Jan

Johansson, CEO and President of SCA. San Saglik

generates annual revenues of approximately SEK

100m. SCA has a purchase option on the remaining 5

percent of the company. The transaction is expected

to be completed during the third quarter of this year,

following approval by the relevant authorities.

SCA Invests in Incontinence Care Products in

Turkey

Indorama Ventures

Public Company

Limited (IVL) and

F i b e r V i s i o n s

H o l d i n g s L L C

announced that IVL has agreed to acquire 100% of

FiberVisions. Indorama Ventures PCL is a leading

producer in the polyester value chain with manufacturing

in Asia, Europe and North America, and sales throughout

the world. Mr. Aloke Lohia, Group CEO of IVL said, “The

acquisition of FiberVisions significantly enhances

Indorama Ventures' position in the world's most

specialized fibers business for hygiene products and other

growing fiber applications. As the largest producer of

polypropylene fiber, FiberVisions complements our

strength as the world's largest polyester producer and

together we will better cover customer needs in all parts

of the world.” Dr. Stephen Wood, CEO of FiberVisions

noted “the combination of IVL and FiberVisions will give us

an even stronger capability to develop fiber innovations to

help our customers successfully meet the ever changing

and increasing market demands.” Dr. Wood also noted

that customers and suppliers should not see any changes

in their day-to-day interactions with FiberVisions and

customer and supplier contacts will remain the same.

“We will continue our focus on serving our customers with

high-quality products, innovation, and superior service.”

FiberVisions Acquired by Indorama Ventures

Public Company Limited

While the national unemployment

rate has been dropping in recent

months, many communities are still

feeling the pain and pressure of the

ongoing recession. Nowhere is this

more evident than in communities like

Douglasville, Ga., a town outside of Atlanta. The local

economy will get a boost from Medline Industries, Inc.,

who announced the creation of 150 new jobs with the

opening of a new 600,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art

adult incontinence products manufacturing facility.

Medline, the largest privately held manufacturer and

distributor of healthcare supplies in the United States

and the leading provider of disposable incontinence

products to the long-term care and hospital markets,

built the new facility to produce the company's newest

and most innovative adult incontinence brand of

products called FitRight™. In addition to Medline's new

manufacturing facility, the company maintains a

448,000 square-foot distribution center, also located in

Lithia Springs, where the company ships healthcare

supplies to hospitals, nursing homes, surgery centers

and other healthcare facilities throughout the southeast.

Medline built its new facility with room to grow as

demand for its incontinence products increases.

Medline Opens New State-of-the-Art Health

Care Manufacturing Facility Near Atlanta

Accelerating Country-

wide Sales through

B r o a d W h o l e s a l e

Channels of Leading

Chinese Company -Kao

Group and China's

l e a d i n g c o m p a n y

Shanghai Jahwa United Co., Ltd. have agreed to a

strategic business alliance. Accordingly, Kao

Commercial (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Jahwa

Sales Co., Ltd. have entered into a written contract on

marketing and sales. The new alliance aims to expand

sales of Kao Group's products in the Chinese market by

making use of Shanghai Jahwa Sales' robust

marketing structure and wholesale channels, which

extend throughout the country. Kao Group positions

China as the market for primary focus. The alliance will

bolster Kao's expansion in the area by allowing for

swifter and more efficient provision of the Group's

products. Initially focusing on three brands - laundry

detergent Attack, a disposable diaper Merries, and a

sanitary napkin Laurier - Kao will begin preparations

aiming at full-fledged sales activities throughout China

for Kao products from 2013.

Kao Agrees Strategic Alliance with Shanghai

Jahwa

...contd

Cover Story

10Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

Commenting on the acquisition,

Nancy Taylor, Tredegar's President

and CEO, said, "Welcoming

Terphane to the Tredegar family

provides us with significant opportunities to broaden ourproduct portfolio and end-use markets and grow in a keyglobal region. Terphane's high-value, differentiatedproducts will extend our product offerings into the foodand consumer packaging markets. Its strengths in filmsmanu f a c t u r i n g , t e c hno l o g y and p r odu c tcommercialization align well with those of Tredegar FilmProducts.

National Tissue's President, Mike Graverson, said,

Merfin is an excellent fit and will complement National

Tissue's core business. Merfin brings their proprietary

dispensing systems and other product extensions to our

basic offering. Adding a second and expandable

operating location is a big step in our strategic roadmap.

Inatec GmbH has several unique adhesive application

technologies that greatly complement our industry-

leading non-contact products such as Uniform Fiber

Deposition (UFD™) and DeltaFx™. Furthermore,

Inatec´s expertise in the reactive adhesives (PUR)

markets will allow ITW Dynatec to further position itself

as a leading adhesive application solutions provider to

global markets including technical textiles, automotive

and filtration,” said Christof Schotten, Vice

President/General Manager World Wide ITW Dynatec

Deals if well treaded can create

quite enormous profit for a

company and expose the business

to a myriad of financial resources.

The corporate world understands

tha t , i n an i n c r ea s i ng l y

competit ive, changing and

challenging environment, well-thought-out and

carefully executed cross-border transactions can boost

the value of their business.

In their own words...

Conclusion

Cover Story

11Jan - Jun 2012

...contd

Mr. Aloke Lohia,

Group CEO of IVL

s a i d , “ T h e

acquisition of FiberVisions significantly enhances

Indorama Ventures' position in the world's most

specialized fibers business for hygiene products and

other growing fiber applications. As the largest

producer of polypropylene fiber, FiberVisions

complements our strength as the world's largest

polyester producer and together we will better cover

customer needs in all parts of the world.

Changes in the Duty Structure as Per the

Recent Budget Announcement

Customs Duty

Chapter 39

Chapter 54

Chapter 56

39.1 Basic customs duty on Super

Absorbent Polymer (SAP) classified

under 3906 90 90 imported for use in

the manufacture of Adult Diapers is

being reduced from 7.5% to 5%

alongwith Nil SAD on actual user

basis [S.No242 of notification No.

12/2012-Customs dated 17.03.2012

refers]

54.1 Basic Customs duty on Aramid thread/ Yarn/ fabric

for manufacture of Bullet proof helmets for Defence and

Police personnel is being reduced from 10% to Nil with

Nil CVD and Nil SAD (S. No. 16 of Notification No.39/96-

Customs dated 23rd July, 1996 as inserted vide

Notification No.11 /2012-Customs dated 17th March,

2012 refers).

56.1 Basic customs duty on Hydrophilic Non–Woven,

Hydrophobic Non–Woven (CTH 56031100) imported for

use in the manufacture of Adult Diapers is being reduced

from 10% to 5%, with 5% CVD and Nil SAD on actual

user basis [S.No295 of notification No. 12/2012-

Customs dated 17.03.2012 refers]

The rate of excise duty applicable to ready-made

garments and made-up articles of textiles falling under

Chapters 61, 62 and 63 (heading nos.63.01 to 63.08) of

the Central Excise Tariff except those falling under

heading nos.63.09 and 63.10 when they bear or are sold

under a brand name has been increased from 10% to

12%. However, the tariff value for these items has been

revised and shall now be equal Retail Sale Price (RSP)

less abatement of 70% instead of 55%. In other words,

duty would be payable on 30% of the RSP.

In terms of notification No.31/2011-CE dated

24.3.2011, full exemption from Central Excise duty is

available to duty-paid, branded ready-made garments

and made-ups returned or brought back to the same

factory or premises and cleared after being re-made, re-

conditioned, repacked or subjected to any other

process, subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions.

Excise Duty

The effective excise duty rate applicable to the textile

sector (other than readymade garments and made ups

bearing a brand name or sold under a brand name) is

currently covered by Notification No. 29/2004-CE dated

9.7.2004. This notification is being superseded by

notification no. 7/2012 –CE dated 17 March, 2012.

Our textile industry, especially the

weaving sector, urgently needs to

modernise. I propose to fully exempt

automatic shuttle-less looms from

basic customs duty of 5%. Similarly,

full exemption from basic duty is

being accorded to automatic silk

reeling and processing machinery as

well as its parts. It is also proposed

to restrict these exemptions and the existing

concessional rate of basic customs duty of 5% only to

new textile machinery. Second-hand machinery would

now attract basic duty of 7.5%

Other proposals on textiles are:

to reduce basic customs duty on wool waste and wool

tops from 15% to 5%

to reduce basic customs duty on Titanium dioxide

from 10% to 7.5%

to exend full exemption from basic customs duty to

aramid yarn and fabric used for the manufacture of

bullet proof helmets

Excise duty of 10% is applicable to branded ready-

made garments with abatement of 55% from the Retail

Sale Price. Along with increase in duty to 12%, I

propose to enhance the abatement to 70%. As a result,

the incidence of duty as a percentage of the Retail Sale

Price would come down from 4.5% to 3.6%

Our MSME sector is fertile ground for the production

of low-cost medical devices. In order to provide impetus

to this sector, I propose to reduce basic customs duty to

2.5 % with concessional CVD of 6 % on specified parts,

components and raw materials for the manufacture of

some disposables and instruments. Full exemption from

basic customs duty and CVD is also being extended to

specified raw materials for the manufacture of coronary

stents and heart valves. These concessions would be

subject to actual user condition

th

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Some other Proposals in the words of

Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee

during his budget speech on 16 March, 2012

were:-

th

Mr. Pranab MukherjeeFinance Minister of India

Good to Know...In the recent past the Indian Technical Textile Industry has attracted a lot of attention from the Government of

India and a lot is being done through various initiatives undertaken as per the recent budget announcements & alsothrough the promotion of India’s International Trade.

“

”

Government Interface

12Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

Highlights of Some Developments in the

Technical Textile Industry

The first meeting of sub-committee on

for Technical Textiles was held under the

Chairmanship of Shri Sujit Gulati, Joint Secretary, MoT

on 2 February 2012 at Office of the Textile

Commissioner, Mumbai to identify specific areas in

technical textiles where it would be useful to create a

separate HSN code. Shri. A.B. Joshi, Textile

Commissioner and Ms. Madhavi Das, Director, MoT

were also present in the meeting

During the month of February 2012, Nineteen

technical textile units have been registered with this

office for availing 10%

for Technical Textiles with a proposed investment in

machineries to the tune of Rs. 109.04 crores

(Approx). So far, 561 units have been registered with

this office as technical textile manufacturing units for

availing 10% Capital subsidy with a total investment

in proposed machineries to the tune of Rs. 3288.57

crores (approx)

is being

implemented through 'Accredited Social Health

Activist'- 'ASHA'. The scope of ASHA's activities is

being enlarged to include prevention of Iodine

Deficiency Disorders, ensure 100 per cent

immunisation and better spacing of children. At the

community level, a more active role is envisaged for

ASHA as the convenor of the Village Health and

Sanitation Committee, as also to support the initiative

on malnutrition. Since ASHAs receive activity-wise,

performance-based payments, this will also enhance

their remuneration. I propose to increase the

allocation to NRHM from `18,115 crore in 2011-12 to

`20,822 crore in 2012-13

is being launched

to encompass the primary healthcare needs of people

in the urban areas. The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya

Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) aimed at setting up of

AIIMS-like institutions and upgradation of existing

Government medical colleges is being expanded to

cover upgradation of 7 more Government medical

colleges. It will enhance the availability of affordable

tertiary health care

Government has sanctioned

under the Scheme for Integrated Textiles Parks

with a project cost of Rs. 2100 crores to be

implemented over a period of 36 months. The new

Textiles Parks would leverage an investment of over

Rs. 9000 crores and provide employment to 4 lac

textiles workers. Government sought to ensure

balanced regional development, promote textiles

industry in North Eastern States and in States where

the industry is in a nascent stage of development and

promote textiles parks in cooperative & handloom

HSN Codes

Capital Subsidy under TUFS

National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)

National Urban Health Mission

21 new Textiles

Parks

nd

�

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�

�

�

The has been finalised and

placed in the public domain

Draft fibre policy

�

sectors. The product mix in these parks would include

apparels and garments parks, hosiery parks, silk parks,

processing parks, technical textiles including medical

textiles, carpet parks, powerloom parks

The Finance Minister announced a financial package of

Rs. 3884 crore for waiver of loans of handloom waiver and

their co-operative societies. The Finance Minister has also

announced setting-up of two mega handloom clusters

covering Prakasam and Guntur districts in Andhra

Pradesh, and Godda and neighbouring districts in

Jharkhand. A powerloom mega cluster is proposed to be

set-up in Ichalkaranji in Maharashtra with a Budget

allocation of Rs. 70 crore in order to address the need of

the local artisans and weavers.

In addition, three Weavers' Service Centers are proposed

to be set up in Mizoram, Nagaland and Jharkhand

�

The Finance Minister,

Shri Mukherjee announced that a Rs. 500 crore pilot

scheme for promotion and application of Geo-

textiles will be set up in the North-Eastern region.

M O U w i t h M a u r i t i u s :

India-Africa Trade Meet

A

Memorandum of Understanding for

cooperation in the textile sector was

signed on 7.02.2012 between Ministry

of Textiles, Government of India and

Ministry of Industry, Commerce &

Consumer Protection of the Republic of

Mauritius. The MoU envisages

consolidation of the textile and

clothing industry, exchange information and

documents, transfer of technology and sharing and

adopting best practices in production, productivity and

quality improvement, fashion and design, product

development and executive development programmes

between the two countries.

: The Union Minister of

Commerce, Industry and Textiles of India, Sh. Anand

Sharma, and the African Trade and Industry Ministers

met in New Delhi on 17 March, 2012 for the 2

meeting of the India-Africa Trade Ministers. During the

meeting, the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme

in the C-4 countries (Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad, Mali ),

Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda was also launched. The

Technical Assistance Programme in the cotton sector is

an initiative of the Government of India under the

umbrella of the 'India-Africa Forum Summit' towards

helping the above-mentioned cotton growing countries

of Africa to build capacity, technical expertise and

thereby competitiveness in the field. The African

Ministers acknowledged the Indian Government's

initiative to set up an Integrated Textiles as well as

other clusters in African countries, to address the need

for value-addition in the textiles sector in Africa. The

proposed Integrated Clusters are expected to garner

investments of US $ 350 mn and generate employment

for 60,000 textile workers.

th nd

Legal Updates

Shri Anand SharmaMinister of Commerce,

Industry & Textiles of India

...contd

Government Interface

13Jan - Jun 2012

Types of Mineral Fibres

Basalt Fibre

Manufacturing

Mineral fibres can be classified as follow:

Fiberglass made from specific glass, optical fibre made

from purified natural quartz, silica fibre made from

sodium silicate (water glass) and basalt fibre made

from melted basalt

Metallic fibres can be drawn from ductile metals such as

copper, gold or silver and extruded or deposited from

more brittle ones, such as nickel, aluminum or iron

Carbon fibres are often based on oxydised and via

pyrolysis carbonized polymers like PAN, but the end

product is almost pure carbon

Silicon carbide fibres, where the basic polymers are not

hydrocarbons but polymers, where about 50% of the

carbon atoms are replaced by silicon atoms, so-called

poly-carbo-silanes. The pyrolysis yields an amorphous

silicon carbide, including mostly other elements like

oxygen, titanium, or aluminium, but with mechanical

properties very similar to those of carbon fibres

Stainless steel fibres

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock found

worldwide. Basalt is the generic term for solidified

volcanic lava. Safe and abundant, basalt rock has long

been known for its thermal properties, strength and

durability. Basalt fibres are mineral fibres produced by

melting a single raw material, basalt rock that melts at

high-temperatures (approximately 1400 C). They are

100% inorganic. Paul Dhé from Paris, France, was the

first with the idea to extrude fibres from basalt. He was

granted a U.S. patent in 1923. Around

1960, both the U.S. and the former

Soviet Union (USSR) began to

investigate basalt fibre applications,

particularly in military hardware, such

as missiles.

Manufacturing of basalt fibre requires the melting of the

quarried basalt rock at about 1,400 °C (2,550 °F). The

molten rock is then extruded through small nozzles to

produce continuous filaments of basalt fibre. There are

three main manufacturing techniques, which are

centrifugal-blowing, centrifugal-multiroll and die-

blowing. The fibres typically have a filament diameter of

between 9 and 13 μm which is far enough above the

respiratory limit of 5 μm to make basalt fibre a suitable

replacement for asbestos.

Basalt fibres are inexpensive, golden brown-colored

�

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o

Basalt Fibre Gaining GroundIntroduction

Mineral fibres are one of the oldest and most popular materials in the world used for different kinds of insulation,

filtration, reinforcement of composites, etc. They may be produced as staple fibres, rockwool or superfine fibres based

on eruptive rocks, with or without additional components. Mineral fibres are made from natural or synthetic minerals

or metal oxides. Synthetic mineral fibres (SMF) is a generic term used to collectively describe a number of amorphous

(non-crystalline) fibrous materials including glassfibre, mineral wool and ceramic fibre. Mineral fibres can be particular

strong because they are formed with a low number of surface defects.

fibres, similar to glass, and currently produced primarily

in Russia and Ukraine. Basalt exhibits better chemical and

alkali resistance than glass, promising an additional

choice for use in reinforcing concrete in infrastructure

applications. Kamenny Vek (Dubna, Russia),

TechnoBasalt (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Hengdian Group

Shanghai Russia & Gold Basalt Fibre Co. (Shanghai,

China) are three of the growing number of basalt fibre

suppliers.

Basalt Continuous Filament compared to fibres such as E-

glass fibres, has higher operating temperatures, better

strength at elevated temperatures, higher elastic

properties, lower elongation at break, more resistance to

acids, less degradation by water and alkalies and better

recyclability. Due to all these properties basalt fibre can

replace glass fibres as well as carbon fibres. Under

ambient temperatures the tensile strength of E-glass and

basalt continuous filament is approximately equal but at

250 C it is proved that E-glass loses upto 23% of its

strength while in basalt continuous fibres, strength

increases by 15%.

Basalt fibres are being used for many applications.

Innovative possibilities are being evaluated such as fire

resistant breaker fabrics (Hybrids Nylon/Basalt) and fire

resistant rubber conveyor belts (tensile member).

Beyond this, basalt woven fabrics can have a huge

potential in several applications like heat insulation,

sound insulation, fire resistance, mats and veils for fire

protection, geogrids for road and land reinforcements,

wind mill blade production and boat building. Basalt fibre

can be converted into Rovings, Yarn, Chopped Strands,

Texturized Yarn, Rope, Sleeve, Chopped Strand Mat,

Surfacing Mat (Tissue), Unidirectional Fabrics, Multi-axial

Fabrics, Rebar, Needle Mat, Geogrid (geo-mesh), 3-D

Fabrics, Sewing thread and so on.

o

Basalt Fibre vs E Glass Fibre

Applications of Basalt Fibre with Some

Examples

Thermal

propertiesBasalt E glass

Application

temperature, ºC-260 up to +560 -60 up to +460

Short-term

maximum

operation

temperature, ºC

up to +700 up to +550

Special Feature

16Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

Special Feature

Basalt Fibre in Industrial Usage:

Basalt Fibre in Reinforcement:

Basalt Fibre in Construction:

As an example,

MEP-OLBO is developing together with their customers a

basalt fabric with continuous filament in weft and warp

treated with RFL dip for conveyor belt application. After

several adhesion experiments their fabric has shown

very good adhesion to standard EPDM and SBR rubber.

At the moment they are focused on a top ply application

for heat protection of conveyor belt due to very good

operation temperatures of this fibre. It can increase the

life time of the conveyor belt.

Zhengzhou Basalt

fibre Technology Co., Ltd. produces continuous basalt

fibre geogrid which is made by impregnating woven

basalt fibre scrim with asphalt and then drying to be final

products. In normal temperature, the ratio of the elastic

modulus between the basalt fibre concrete and the

asphalt concrete is 24:1. This basalt fibre concrete has

the excellent resistance to deformation. The elongation

at break is about 3.4%. Basalt fibre possesses the

properties of high temperature and frost resistance, the

same thermal expansion coefficient with the asphalt

concrete, high tensile strength, ultraviolet resistance,

stable chemical resistance and ageing resistance. Basalt

fibre is the best alternative of the polyester fibre. It can

satisfy the asphalt stirring temperature, is the excellent

construction material for reinforced cement & concrete

and has outstanding penetration resistance.

RockBar, the corrosion

resistant basalt fibre reinforcing bar (made of advanced

basalt fibre “Basfiber ”, manufactured by Kamenny

Vek), has been used to reinforce a concrete bridge deck.

®

RockBar was specified for its excellent durability and

corrosion resistance in line with the design brief of a long

lasting and sustainable bridge deck construction.

In the automotive

industry, Azdel Inc. (Southfield, Mich.), a 50/50 joint

venture of GE Advanced Materials (Pittsfield, Mass.) and

glass-fibre producer PPG Industries (Pittsburgh, Pa.),

developed VolcaLite, a thermoformable thermoplastic

composite that combines polypropylene (PP) and long

chopped basalt fibre. The company claims that the

basalt/PP system offers acoustic absorption properties,

low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), and a high

strength-to-weight ratio, providing good ductility. It is

initially targeted for auto headliners, which can be made

50 percent thinner than conventional systems.

Technical Fibre Products Ltd. (Kendal, Cumbria, U.K. and

New York, N.Y.) has taken chopped basalt fibres and made

gossamer nonwoven veils. The

company is running trials of the product

in laminated and thermoformed

automotive components. Johns Manville

Europe (Bad Homburg, Germany) has

also produced wet-layed basalt veils.

Basaltex is focusing on fire

blocking interliners and layers for transportation seating.

Appropriately finished BCF fabrics are used as a fire blocking

interliners in the construction of public transportation

seatings (train, bus, metro…). The need for a fireblocking

interliner that also resists vandalism knife cuts, has given

rise to integrated anti-vandalism (integrating a triaxial

metallic weave) and fire-blocking interliners which are

flexible, light, and give seating comfort. Furthermore fire

blocking interliners have also been used in mattresses.

Mattresses for hotels, institutes, hospitals and – more and

more so– the home, need to be resistant to a smoldering

cigarette and to external ignition sources. The basalt

interliner allows mattresses fitted with it to fully pass the

mentionednorms regarding theabove concerns.

Basalt Fibre in Automotives:

Basalt Fibre in Protection:

...contd

Special Feature

17Jan - Jun 2012

absorption of CO from the atmosphere significantly

reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and energy

required to make Ingeo bioresin. This significant offset

and the advanced processing proprietary to NatureWorks

give Ingeo superior environmental credentials when

compared to petrochemical plastics (See Fig. 2 (a) & (b)).

Another benefit of Ingeo is the potential for more

environmentally friendly end-of-life options. In

addition to standard disposal techniques such as landfill

disposal, energy recovery and mechanical recycling,

Ingeo can be cost effectively chemically recycled

(feedstock recovery). Chemical recycling of Ingeo is a

simple process that breaks Ingeo down into its original

lactic acid through hydrolysis. The lactic acid can then

be sold for industrial uses or polymerization back into

2Introduction

Making Fibres From Plants

Environmental benefits alone are not enough to explain

the rapid growth of biopolymers in nonwovens

applications. These resins also offer performance

advantages and are commercially feasible. This article

focuses on one biopolymer, Ingeo and its growth as a

sustainable and performance solution for nonwovens.

The organization behind Ingeo is NatureWorks, an equity

ownership company whose principals are Cargill and

Thailand's largest chemical producer, PTT Global

Chemicals. The NatureWorks facility in Blair, Nebraska,

USA has an annual capacity of 140,000 metric tons. A

second Ingeo product facility is now being planned for

start-up in Thailand in late 2015.

The NatureWorks facility polymerizes lactic acid,

produced via a proprietary fermentation of sugar

(dextrose) into a family of Ingeo resin grades.

NatureWorks produces and sells more than 15 different

Ingeo grades, each with chemistry and properties

tailored to various markets and applications. Ingeo

offers a unique eco profile because of the advanced

proprietary processes incorporated within the Blair

facility (See Fig. 1).

The sun powers plant growth. Plants use photosynthesis

to convert CO and water into sugars — the starting raw

material for Ingeo. Plants use of the sun's energy and

™

Environmentally Beneficial

2

By Eamonn Tighe, EU Business Development Manager, and Robert Green,

Director, Nonwovens and Fibers, NatureWorks, LLC

Biopolymers for Nonwovens –Exceptional Expansion for Ingeo Fibres

Made from Plants, Not Oil

Fig.1 - Ingeo, Where it Comes from

Fig. 2(b)

Fig. 2(a) & (b) - Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy Consumption

Fig. 2(a)

Special Feature

18Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

Staple Fibres Spunbond Filament

DS Fibres, Belgium

FIT, US & China

FENC, Taiwan

Huvis, Korea

Toray, Japan

Palmetto Synthetics,

USA

Trevira, Germany

Unitika, Japan

Ahlstrom, US & EU

Fitesa, US & EU

CL Nonwovens,

China

Unitika, Japan

Noyfil, Switzerland

Miroglio, Italy

FENC, Taiwan

FIT, US & China

Omara, US

Ingeo for true cradle-to-cradle reuse.

An example of feedstock recovery was the hydrolysis

into lactic acid of 20,000 square meters (

) of Ingeo-based exhibition carpet

manufactured by Sommer Needlepunch. The carpet was

used at the Bella Center in Copenhagen during the 2009

UN Conference on Climate Change. Galactic, one of the

world's largest suppliers of lactic acid, handled the Ingeo

feedstock recovery process (See Fig. 3). Ingeo food

contaminated plates, knives, forks, and packaging can

be industrially composted. This end-of-life scenario

helps divert food and plastic waste from landfills.

A comprehensive eco profile of Ingeo was developed

using the internationally recognized Boustead model for

calculating a life cycle inventory. This inventory was

published as a peer reviewed article titled “The Eco-

Profile for Current Ingeo Polylactide Production” in the

August 2010 issue of the

journal The complete article can be found on the

NatureWorks website .

Spunbond fabrics have now been commercial for a

number of years from companies such as Fitesa,

Ahlstrom, and CL Nonwovens and are available in

weights from <20 gsm to 200 gsm, in 100 percent

homogenous or in bi-component versions, as well as in

combinations with other polymers such as polyethylene

or polypropylene. It is possible to achieve tensile

strength that compares favorably to polypropylene for

equivalent base weights. Nonwovens and fibres

specifically focused on medical, hygiene, filtration, and

horticulture applications are proliferating (See Fig. 4).

Melt Blown nonwoven is one of the most recent areas of

development for Ingeo biopolymer. The specific grade,

Ingeo 6252, has a low viscosity and fast crystallization.

The 6252 grade can also be blended with other grades to

broaden the operation window. This yields different

processing parameters and fabric properties. Fabrics

have been developed on various lines of equipment,

including Biax-Fiberfilm, as shown in Fig. 5.

215,000

square feet

Industrial Biotechnology

.

The Current State of Biopolymer Fibres and

Nonwovens — Technically Advantageous

www.natureworksllc.com

Weights from < 10 gsm to

40 gsm are particularly

suitable for wipes and

filtration applications.

Processing is relatively

simple with a broad

operating temperature

window and polymer

molecular weight spread.

Water can be used at quenching to yield a softer hand.

Calendering and hydro-entangling have been used to

assist bonding and optimize handling. Much of

NatureWorks progress in this area is credited to close

cooperation with Doug Brown, president of BIAX

FiberFilm, Greenville, Wisconsin, and Larry Wadsworth,

Ph.D, chief technical director, U.S. Pacific Nonwovens

Industry, with headquarters in Hong Kong as well as Dr.

Gajanan Bhat at the University of Tennessee Nonwovens

Research Lab. Table 1 below lists some of NatureWorks

current Ingeo fiber licensees.

One of the latest new products developed taking

advantage of Ingeo is the Electrolux s Bag Green. This

new environmentally friendly offering demonstrates what

can be offered by Ingeo in filtration applications using

combinations of spunbond and meltblown fabrics. S-bag®

Tensiles represented as % of PP control - 30gsm, 1.4dpf identical bond patterns & bond area*RMS: % Calculations based upon Root Mean Square of MD & CD Tensiles.

Fig. 3 - UN dignitaries and President Obama.The Photo with President Obama was Purchased

from Getty Images

Fig. 4 - Ingeo Bico spunbond – tensile comparison

Fig.5 - Biax-Fiberfilm

Staple Fibres Spunbond Filament

DS Fibres, Belgium

FIT, US & China

FENC, Taiwan

Huvis, Korea

Toray, Japan

Palmetto Synthetics,

USA

Palmetto Synthetics,

USA

Trevira, Germany

Unitika, Japan

Ahlstrom, US & EU

Fitesa, US & EUFitesa, US & EU

CL Nonwovens,

China

CL Nonwovens,

China

Unitika, Japan

Noyfil, Switzerland

Miroglio, Italy

FENC, Taiwan

FIT, US & China

Omara, US

Table 1 - List of Ingeo Fibre Licensees

...contd

Special Feature

19Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

The Use of Non-Woven Needled

Punched Banana

Fibre in Dry FiltrationMr. Sunil Pardeshi l, Mr .Pradeep Ingale , Mr. Mahamed Jafer Mirji

Introduction of Banana Fibre

Banana fibre is a new type of natural fibre extracted

from the bark of a banana tree. The appearance of a

banana fibre is similar to that of natural original bamboo

fibre and ramie fibre, but its fineness and spinnability is

far better than them. The chemical composition of

banana fibre consists mainly of cellulose,

hemicelluloses, and lignin. High strength, small

elongation, good luster, light weight, strong moisture

absorption, fast moisture absorption and release, easy

degradation as well as environmental protection etc are

some of the main characteristics of banana fibre. Banana

also called as Kalpatharu is a gigantic herb, a food fruit

crop, an ancient species which is cultivated all over the

world. After Brazil, India stands as the largest banana

producer in the world. is the common name for

herbaceous plants of the genus which grow easily

and are most commonly found in hot tropical climates.

All varieties of banana plants have fibres in abundance

which are obtained after the fruit is harvested and fall in

the group of bast fibres. The banana plant has long been

a source of fibre for high quality textiles especially in

Japan & Nepal.

Banana

Musa

The fruitful utilization of pseudo stems is

an important issue related to banana cultivation since

the disposal of these stems is a major problem which is

being faced by the farmers today. India has about 5 lakh

hectares of Banana cultivation out of which only 10% of

the Banana waste (Pseudo stems) is extracted as fibre.

Characteristics of Banana Fibre

Banana fibre is a natural bast fibre. It has its own physical

and chemical characteristics which makes it a fine quality

fibre.

Appearance of banana fibre is similar to that of bamboo

fibre and ramie fibre, but its fineness and spinnability in

comparison to other two is much better

It is a high strength fibre

It has low elongation

It has a shiny appearance depending upon the

extraction & spinning process

It is a light weight fibre

It has a strong moisture absorption quality which

absorbs as well as releases moisture very fast

It is bio-degradable and has no negative effect on

environment and thus can be categorized as eco-

friendly fibre

Its average fineness is 2400Nm

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

GREEN, the first vacuum dust

bag in the world, made from Ingeo™

fibres, natural rubber, and recycled

cardboard, has an up to 50% longer

lifespan than paper dust bags and is

TÜV certified (See Fig. 6 ).

The ability to tailor and tune end-use

performance via a variety of additives

contributes to the adoption of Ingeo in

the international fibres industry and other industries.

Here are a few examples of additives available today.

is a chain extender,

yielding additional melt strength and improvements in

processability

– significantly improves

hydrophilicity

,biodegradable Co PET improves

processability

(ethylene bis stearamide) – a nucleating agent

that offers lubrication and increased abrasion

resistance, also yields hydrophobic characteristics

provides finish treatments

for a variety of fibre and nonwovens processes

�

�

�

�

�

Cesa -Extend from Clariant

CP-LO1 from Polyvel, Inc.

Ecoflex from BASF

EBS

Goulston Technologies

®

Conclusions

Ingeo bioresin is competitive with petrochemical-based

plastics with today's ever increasing oil prices. The crucial

point about the cost of bioresin compared to

petrochemical products is the overall price stability of

bioresin relative to petrochemicals. Price stability is based

on sourcing renewable resources. Price stability is

expected to continue as the industry incorporates not only

corn, but other cellulosic materials. There are a number of

reasons biopolymers are here to stay, including:

�

�

�

�

Biopolymers meet a strategic need to shed oil

dependency and lower carbon footprint

Biopolymers meet the global consumer expectation for

sustainability in the right end uses without sacrifice in

terms of price, performance, and convenienceToday biopolymers are readilyavailable, fit into existing

processes, and are cost competitive — they are

definitely out of the “introduction” stageThere is a robust supply chain in the fibres industry

serving brand owners in a host of applications

Eamonn Tighe and Robert Greenwelcome your comments and questions.

Ingeo™ and the Ingeo™ logo are trademarks or registered trademarks ofNatureWorks LLC in the USA and other countries.

eammon_tighe@natureworkspla.comRobert_Green1@natureworksllc.com

Fig. 6 - s-bag GREEN®

Special Feature

21Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

...contd

...contd

Chemical Structure of Banana Fibre

Extraction of Banana Fibres

Extraction of Fibres by Retting Method

The chemical composition

of banana fibre is mainly

t h a t o f c e l l u l o s e ,

hemicelluloses, and lignin.

Banana fibre is a multiple

celled structure, whose

lumens are large in

relation to the wall thickness. Cross markings are rare

and fibre tips are pointed. The flat, ribbon like individual

fibre ranges from 14 to 50 microns in diameter and

0.25cm to 1.3cm in length. Banana fibre is a natural fibre

with high strength, which can be blended easily with

cotton fibre and other synthetic fibres to produce

blended fabric & Textiles. The “pseudo-stem” is a

clustered, cylindrical aggregation of leaf stalk bases.

Banana fibre at present is a waste product of banana

cultivation which is just partially utilized. The extraction

of fibre from the pseudo stem is not a common practice

and most of the time the stem is not used for production

of fibres. The buyers for banana fibres are erratic since

there is no systematic way of extracting the fibres

regularly. Useful applications of such fibres would

regularize the demand which would ultimately be

reflected in price fall.

Bast fibres, like banana, are complex in structure. They

are generally lingo cellulosic, consisting of helically

wound cellulose micro fibrils in amorphous matrix of

lignin and hemi cellulose. The cellulose content along

with micro fibril angle serves as a deciding factor for

mechanical properties. A high cellulose content and low

micro fibril angle impart desirable mechanical properties

for the bast fibres. Lignins are composed of nine carbon

units derived from substituted cinnamyl alcohol; that is,

coumaryl, coniferyl, and syringyl alcohols. Lignins are

associated with hemicelluloses and play an important

role in natural decay resistance of the lignocelluloses

material.

Extraction of fibres means separation of fibres from the

commenting subtonics such as pectin's or lignin's, wax

resins, fats and other carbohydrates. Fibres from bast

plants are extracted by any one of the following

methods-retting or mechanical. The choice of extraction

method largely depends upon the quality of fibres to be

regained. The use of the hand scraper, blunt and

crescent shaped knives wooden beater and hand

comber are common for fibre extraction. Now a days

fibres are extracted from leaves mechanically. After

extraction, the fibres are thoroughly washed and dried.

The extraction of fibres can be done by 2 methods:

(a) Retting method

(b) Fibre Removal by Machine

This is the oldest and the most conventional method of

obtaining fibres from banana bast. This method is very

economical but being very time consuming and it is

generally followed in under developed and rural areas

where the fibres are used for cottage industry. The first

stage of obtaining the fibres from the banana bast is

called as retting which consists of softening of the banana

bast in water. During fermentation, bacteria developed

into the process degrade the partition of the softer cells of

the bast leaving the fibre cells unaffected there by

facilitating the separation of fibre bundles (2-4 inches in

length). The fibres are not degraded if the fermentation

(Retting) is stopped in between.

Retting is done by two methods i.e. Dew Retting and

Water Retting. In the dew retting method the selected

bast from which the fibres are to be extracted are spread

over the ground to allow dew and rain aided by the heat of

the sun to germinate the retting fungi. After the top side

had been retted the straw is turned. Since Dew retting is a

long and tedious method, it is replaced by water retting

also called as the tannic retting method, in which straw is

placed in a tame manner and is subjected to successive

washes of water due to which germs are created and start

the generation of the green matter. The retting period is

different for different varieties. After the Retting is done

the sub-due is removed and dried. After drying, the bast

is subjected to breaking which is the first mechanical

process to which banana bast is subjected. This is done

manually by beating with the hammer. The other

unwanted matters from the fibres are removed by using

simple hand combs. These fibres so formed are white or

ivory in colour and are fine, lustrous, soft, flexible, strong

and highly resistant to water.

The machine consists of two rotating cylinders or beating

rollers each mounted on a shaft and driven by an

electrical motor. As the Cylinder rotates, one end of the

bast is fed slowly between the two cylinders or

beating rollers and the feed plate while the other end is

held firmly by the operator. When the bast is half way

through, it is pulled back and the other half is fed in the

same manner. Due to crushing, beating and pulling

action, the pulpy material gets removed. The bast

fibres are then washed and allowed to dry. Due to this

time consuming method, the extraction is slow at about

7kg to 8kg in eight hours.

Banana fibre is a multi cellular lingo cellulosic fibre

obtained from the bast of the plant. Banana fibre contains

more than 30% of gummy matter. This gummy matter

primarily consists of lignin, pentosan and pectin's (See

Table 1) below. The coarseness of a banana fibre varies

between 25–35 denier with a CV of about 40–50%. In

order to make the fibres soft and fine they are then to be

degummed by using acid, alkali or axines. The linear

density of

B a n a n a

fibre after

degummin

g is found to

be between

1 2 - 2 0

denier.

Extraction of Fibres by Machine Method

Chemical Processing of Banana Fibre

Degumming of Banana Fibre:

Degummed Banana Fibres

Table 1 - Chemical Composition Banana fibre

Range in percent

Alpha cellulose

Beta cellulose

Gamma cellulose

Residual gum

Fats and waxes

Ash

61.30 – 69.60

4.40 – 12.50

3.30 – 11.10

27.20 – 36.00

0.98

0.74

Chemical constituent

22Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

Special Feature

Manufacturing of Needle Punched Non-Wovens

made of Banana Fibres

Application of Banana fibre

Application of Banana fibre as Filter Fabrics

Banana fibres are subjected to a softening treatment

with 2% jute batching oil in water emulsion and

then processed in a breaker

card. To make the banana fibre

into a need le punched

nonwoven, the breaker card

sliver is fed to nonwoven plant

comprising a roller and a

clearer card, a camel back

cross lapper and a needle bed

(See Fig. 2) The banana fibre is

placed on a horizontal lattice

and a softening solution made of a emulsifier & an

antifoaming agent is sprayed on it. A mixture of 70%

Water, 30 % Jute batch oil and a small quantity of

emulsifier and antifoaming agent is mixed together

and sprayed over banana fibre. Immediately after

spraying the solution, the fibres are kept for conditioning

in a closed cabin for 48 hours. After that the f i b r e s

are mechanically softened by passing it through

softener machine. The output material is immediately

fed to the card. fibres were are passed through first a

carding machine and output the output is in the form of a

sliver. The card sliver is fed to second card and a cross

lapper and further later to needle punching to obtain

a fabric of 100% Banana fibre in nonwoven

structure.

In the recent past, banana fibres had a very limited

application and were primarily used for making

items such as ropes, mats, and some other composite

materials. With the increasing environmental

awareness and growing importance of eco- friendly

fabrics, banana fibres are being recognized for all

their good qualities and now their application is

increasing in many other fields.

Filtration plays a critical role in our day to day life by

providing healthier and cleaner environment.

Textile material particularly nonwovens are suitable for

filtration because of their complicated structures and

thickness. Banana fibre can be used as filtering

media since these fibres have high filtration efficiency.

The needle punched nonwoven Banana fibre fabric can

fulfill the objective of filtration i.e. recovery, keeping the

filtration principles such as Interception, Inertia,

Random Diffusion, Gravitational and Electrostatic

charge intact. To achieve the last principle the banana

fibre has to

be used in

form of a

composite in

combination

with special

e l e c t r o

s t a t i c a l l y

c h a r g e d

fibres. The desired filtration properties such as tensile

strength of the fabric, air permeability of the fabric, and

the bursting strength show good results when tested

(See Table 2).

Banana fibres are also used in different application such

as apparel garments and home furnishings. However, in

Japan, they are being used for making traditional dresses

like kimono, and kamishimo since the Edo period (1600-

1868). Since they are lightweight and comfortable to

wear, they are still preferred by people in Japan as

summer wear. Banana fibre is also used to make fine

cushion covers, Neckties, bags, table cloths, curtains etc.

Rugs made from banana silk yarn fibres are also very

popular world over. Banana plant's coarse outer layer

is commonly used for woven tablecloths, cushions,

seating, and curtains, while the inner, silky layer is ideal

for fine saris, kimonos, Banana fibres can be used for

various purposes such as in textile, paper or handicrafts

industry. Banana paper is considered versatile as it is

waterproof and stronger than wood-pulp paper,

meaning it can be used in packaging and even as a basis

for building materials. These fibres are used in Europe

for making socks. In Philippines, these fibres are used

for making garments. In Japan, cultivating banana for

cloth making has been a traditional process and is been

followed since 13 century. Polypropylene reinforced with

banana fibres is used by automobile companies for

making under floor protection panels in luxurious cars

like Mercedes. Banana fibres are mostly used in making

handicrafts and home decorative items. Papers made

from banana fibres have good market in 25 international

countries including Europe. These papers are chemical

free, and possess' Eco friendly qualities, with longevity of

700 years. Banana fibre also has its usage in high quality

security/ currency paper, packing cloth for agriculture

produce, ships towing ropes, wet drilling cables etc.

There is a wide market potential for banana fibre products

on account of it being a light, lustrous and a moisture

absorbent fibre. Banana fibre average fineness is 2386Nm

(4.1 dtex), and its average length is 60mm. Currently the

highest count of 100% banana yarn can be produced

to Nm60 (Ne35). All these attributes leave the textile

industry with enough food for thought to as to what the

future holds for these fibres.

Other Application of Banana fibre

Future for Banana fibre Products

Reference:

th

1. Bast and other Plant fibres. Edited By Robart R Frank

Published by Wood Head Publishing, Cambridge, England ISBN:

1-85573-684-5

2. G.K.Ghosh, Non Conventional Textiles in India, APH Publishing

Cororation, 2000,p 89-99

3. J.Gordon Cook, Handbook of Textile Fibres, Vol I - Natural

Fibres, Woodhead Publishing Limited, 2011,p 27

4. Fibre plants for making paper, The Hindu, A.Balasubramaniam

and Shyamala Kanakarajan

5. Menachem Lewin, Handbook of fibre Chemistry, Marcel Dekker

Inc., 2nd Edition, p 508-519

6. The use of Banana fibre Reinforced Composites for

development of truck Body by H A Al-Qureshi, 2nd International

Wood and Natural Fibre Composites Symposium June 28-

29,1999 in Kassel/Germany

Punching Strength

Properties Readings

Tensile Strength

Air Permeability

Bursting Strength

9.4 Kgf

16.5 cc/cm /second2

19 Bar

29.5 kgf

Table 2 - Properties of Needle punched fabric

Fig 2. Needle Punched

Nonwoven Fibre

23Jan - Jun 2012

Special Feature...contd

Spreading the Word...

Meeting the ongoing demand for both quality information and case studies from

across the globe, BCH and EDANA once again presented the Filtrex Asia Conference

and Exhibition in New Delhi, India on the 6 and 7 December, 2011. Sessions focused

on new filter media technologies, market trends, air, liquid, automotive filtration, and

the trends in testing and measurements. In addition, the adjacent tabletop exhibition

offered a unique business opportunity for participants to see displays from the leading

filter media suppliers, testing and manufacturing equipment suppliers. “

.” said Pierre Wiertz, General

Manager of EDANA. In addition to the market and technical information provided

through both the conference and exhibition, the event offered a number of dedicated

times for business representatives to interact with each other, filling the critical

requirement for individuals to make contact with valuable business partners, be they

from across the Indian subcontinent, or from across the globe.

“

.” said Ritika Gupta, Executive Director of BCH in her keynote paper from

the conference.

th th

What was

particularly interesting in this second edition of FILTREX Asia, was the impressive

presence of major filter makers form the whole Indian subcontinent, very eager to

hear about latest developments in nonwoven filter media

India is a fast growing filtration market, although the current technology is not totally

at the same level as compared to other major markets. The need for 'transition' is well

recognized and we expect significant investments in the coming years, most notably

in nonwovens

Filtrex Asia 2011

06 - 07 December 2011, New Delhi, India

Middle East & North Africa Nonwovens Symposium

14 - 15 February, 2012, Dubai, UAE

The Middle East and North Africa Nonwovens

Symposium was held in Dubai from 14 -15

February, 2012. The symposium covered nearly

all topics ranging from the evolution and

promise of the MENA region, the application of

nonwovens in various sectors, and the

technologies and regulatory developments

impacting the nonwovens and related

industries. Gerd Ries, Co-Chairperson of the

EDANA Board of Governors said

This conference acted

as the conduit for business and development

within the industry, enabling all attendees to

both promote their products, and to seek new

business opportunities or partnerships.

Additionally, delegates also got a chance to

know about the specific needs and support

across the region for nonwoven products which

not only stimulate innovation and creativity by

itself, but also open new opportunities.

th th

"Today, more

than ever, we must be aware that our future

growth and success as an industry relies not

only on a secure supply chain, but on identifying

markets with the potential for future growth and

development. I believe that the MENA region

offer markets with considerable opportunity for

the nonwovens industry."

Relaxed Networking During

the Cocktail Evening

Mr. Pierre Wiertz,G.M, EDANA; Mr. GerdRies, Co-chairperson, EDANA; Mr. Mahdy

Katbe, E.D, Unicharm Gulf Hygienic

Mr. Samir Gupta, M.D., BCH

During his Presentation

Networking Moments During

the Table Top Exhibition

Inaugural Ceremony: Mr. Sujit Gulati, J.S.,

Ministry of Textiles; Mr. Pierre Wiertz

EDANA; Mr. Samir Gupta,M.D., BCH

,

G.M.,

Speakers During the Session

Table Top Exhibition

Huge Response from Delegates

During the Conference

Today a significant portion of worldwide nonwoven expansion is due to the rising

demand for materials made out of nonwovens. Emerging economies, especially

Asia encompassing India and China have become one of the significant players

contributing to this growth. To meet this growth & address this issue, BCH

presented “How to Make the Right Nonwoven?” symposium in Mumbai, India on

10 January, 2012. A full day brainstorming sessions focused on Nonwoven

markets in India, Raw Material & Technology, Applications, Products and

Customer Expectations and Quality & Standards. In addition to that a unique

business opportunity was offered to participants through the tabletop displays of

the speaker companies – Business Co-odination House (BCH), Reifenhauser

Reicofil GmbH & Co. KG, Reliance Industries Limited, BASF South East Asia Pte

Ltd., Schill und Seilacher GmbH & The Nonwovens Institute & The Nonwovens

Cooperative Research Centre. The event brought the interested parties of this

segment to a common pedestal and explored the opportunities, possibilities and

partnerships in India through valued presentations covering all qualitative

aspects of the Nonwoven industry.

th

The impressive presence of major nonwoven manufacturers, big textile

companies, end product manufacturers, polymers - raw material suppliers,

existing importers etc. made this symposium a huge success.

How to Make The Right Nonwoven 2012

10 January 2012, Mumbai, India

CII - Conference on Technical Textiles

24 March 2012, Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, India

On March 24 2012, more than 60

professionals of the Textiles industry

gathered at the CII conference on Technical

Textiles at Baddi. CII, Himachal Pradesh in

association with Ministry of Textiles

organized a one day conference on Technical

Textiles to discuss and deliberate on the

emerging opportunities in Technical

Textiles. Eminent speakers from Ministry of

Textiles, Government of India, Textile

Industry and Academia addressed the

participants. During the conference various

eminent speakers highlighted the recent

advancement of Technical Textiles and also

shared views on how technical textiles can

lead to better and healthier living standards.

The conference was well attended from

various textile houses of the region and the

participants were middle and senior level

executives.The open house session of the

conference proved quite interactive and

informative for the delegates. This

conference met the expectations of all the

participants and proved to be a good

networking and knowledge gaining event

for everyone.

th

Mr. Samir Gupta, MD, BCH

Guest Speakers

Conference Proceedings

During the Evening Cocktail

Table Top Displays During

the Conference

Panel of Speakers

Delegates from BASF, BCH, The Nonwoven

Institute, ,

Limited, Schill und Seilacher GmbH

Reifenhäuser Reicofil GmbH Reliance

Industries

Mr. Bernd Kunze, CEO,

Reifenhauser Reicofil GmbH & Co. Kg

25Jan - Jun 2012

24Jan - Jun 2012

ANEX, one of the top three exhibitions in the

nonwoven industry in the world will be held for the

first time in Korea in June 2012.

Asia Nonwovens Exhibition and Conference (ANEX),

which is held in rotation on a three-year cycle and is one

of the top three exhibitions in the Nonwoven Industry

along with IDEA in North America and INDEX in Europe,

will be held at KINTEX from 13 to 15 June.

At the fifth edition of ANEX 2012, over 200 exhibitors

from 20 countries and regions including Asia, Europe,

North America and all over the world will present their

raw materials and nonwovens production machinery &

equipment in over 13,000 sqm of exhibition space at

exhibition centre of KINTEX.

The global financial status is still not secure with crises in

Europe and an economic recession in the US. Moreover,

the Chinese economy is giving an indication of a

slowdown while oil price

and exchange rate

volatility is extended. On

top of that, we are

expecting a big change in

Korea, China, Russia and

America because of

presidential elections this

year.

Even with all of these matters, starting with ANFA (Asia

Nonwoven Fabrics Association), the nonwoven industry

continues to try to turn the crisis into an opportunity.

ANFA has been making a breakthrough by organising an

exhibition that offers a B2B network and business

market to bring improvement to the Asia Nonwoven

Industry.

Based on the support from the INDA (Association of the

North American Nonwoven Fabrics Industry) and EDANA

(Association of the European Nonwoven Industry), ANEX

2012 is arranging country pavilions including Japan,

China and Taiwan. In addition to many Korean

companies, the world's major nonwoven companies

have confirmed their participation at the exhibition in

order to secure a better exhibition location.

Leading domestic corporations such as Toray Advanced

Materials Korea, Hyosung Corporation, Huvis, Korea

Vilene Co. Ltd, Baiksan, Sam Hwa Machinery Co. Ltd,

Welcron and foreign major companies including A. Celli

Nonwovens, Andritz, Asahi Kasei Fibers Co., Avgol,

Bostik, Dow Chemical, Exxonmobil, Fibertex Personal

Care, F i rs t Qua l i ty,

Freudenberg, Invista,

L e n z i n g , O e r l i k o n ,

Reifenhauser Reicofi l

GmbH & Co. KG, US Pacific

will be attending the show.

Over 80% of the exhibitors

are from overseas. This

clearly proves ANEX's high

reputation as a leading

international nonwoven business market.

Korea, the host country for ANEX 2012, is one of the

world's top producers of chemical fibres and woven

fabrics, and is ranked seventh in the fibre exporting

industry. The nonwovens industry in Korea has shown

steady growth by doing active research and development

at a nonwoven industry specialised research centre and

putting unremitting effort into the development of various

uses for nonwoven fabrics. Furthermore, as the world's

textile industry has garnered attention due to the Korea -

US free trade agreement and the Korea - EU Free Trade

Agreement, the KOFOTI (Korea Textile Industry Leader)

announced “2020 Development Vision towards Global Top

4 Textile Nation” on the anniversary of “2011 Textile Day”.

The Global Nonwoven Summit (GNS) and the ANFA

General Meeting will be held along with the exhibition.

There will be earnest discussion with the theme

“Population and Nonwovens” and the trends of new

technology will also be dealt with in depth. It will help

nonwoven industry colleagues to understand the flow of

the world's nonwoven

industry.

We hope that there will be

a better and stronger

m u t u a l e x c h a n g e ,

c o o p e r a t i o n a n d

development in the Asian

n o n w o v e n i n d u s t r y

through the hosting of

ANEX in Korea.

ANEX is now open for visitor registration and the

organiser is offering detailed information on official

hotels, the venue and so forth on the webpage

( ). If you want to get more

information about ANEX 2012, please feel free to contact

the Fair Manager below.

www.anex2012.com

Anex 2012 Secretariat

UBM Korea Corporation

Tel: +82-2-6715-5400

Fax: +82-2-0432-5885

Contact: Enoch Jeong ( )Enoch.jeong@ubm.com

James Lee ( )JamesHJ.lee@ubm.com

Contact:

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26Jan - Jun 2012

April-June 2012

July-September 2012

January-March 2013

October-December 2012

11 World Filtration Congress

Techtextil North America 2012

Composites India Expo 2012

Mtex 2012

ANEX 2012

JEC Asia 2012

51 Dornbirn Man-Made Fibres Congress

Outlook

Filtrex

Waterproof Membranes 2012

Heimtextil 2013

Outlook Asia 2013

th

st

16-20 April; Graz, Austria;

24-26 April; Atlanta, Georgia;

04-06 May; Chennai, India;

08-10 May; Messe Chemnitz, Germany;

13-15 June; Seoul, Korea;

26-28 June; Singapore;

19-21 September; Dornbirn, Austria;

26-28 September; Barcelona, Spain;

17-18 October; Cologne, Germany;

02-07 December; Mumbai, India;

11-13 December; Düsseldorf, Germany;

09-12 January; Frankfurt, Germany;

06-08 March; New Delhi, India;

www.wfc11.org

www.techtextilna.com

www.cieonline.in

www.mtex-chemnitz.de

www.anex2012.com

www.jeccomposites.com

www.dornbirn-mfc.com

www.edana.org

www.edana.org

www.india-itme.com

www.amiplastics.com

www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com

www.bch.in

Cinte Techtextil China 2012

Railway Interiors Expo 2012

JEC Americas 2012

Filtration 2012

The 4 Filtration & Separation Asia

India ITME 2012

22-24 October; Shanghai, China;

24-26 October; Boston, Massachusetts;

07-09 November; Boston, USA;

13-15 November; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;

14-16 November; Shanghai, China;

www.techtextilchina.com

www.railwayinteriors-expo.com

www.jeccomposites.com

www.inda.org

www.cnta-co.com

th

www.edana.org

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News

Technical

Textiles

Technical

Textiles

28Jan- Jun 2012

Sigmatex, a worldleader in convertingcarbon f ibre intoinnovative technicaltextiles for use in composites applications hasentered into a textile partnership with InnegraTechnologies. After a long working relationship,Sigmatex and Innegra Technologies are forming astrategic alliance to develop applications utilisingInnegra S fibre. Innegra S high performance fibre isthe lightest structural fibre available, deliveringsuperior toughness in a composite while at the sametime reducing weight. In both glass and carboncomposites, Innegra S dramatically increases thecomposite toughness and impact resistance.Innegra S delivers the complimentary benefits ofthe of high performance fibres such as aramids andcarbon at a fraction of cost. While the growth ofcomposites has given rise to numerous newapplications, it has also exposed some weaknessesin the available materials to meet stringentperformance requirements. Soaring fuel and energycosts have heightened the need for even lightercomposites. Innegra S fiber gives the compositedesigner an ultra-lightweight fibre (0.84g/cc) withexcellent energy absorption for impact resistance.Combining this fibre with high modulus fibres usingstate of the art reinforcement technologies willfurther fuel the growth of composite applications.

UK: Sigmatex Announces Textile

P a r t n e r s h i p w i t h I n n e g r a

Technologies, LCC

According to preliminary estimates, global fibreproduction for textiles and nonwovens climbed by4.1% to a record 79.1 million tons in 2011, driven bythe rapid population growth and increase inprosperity in emerging markets. Cotton productionincreased by 6.7% to 26.8 million tons, with thetotal cotton harvest back to the comparable recordlevels achieved in 2006 and 2007, but it is now notexpected to substantially surpass these yields.Experts believe there will be little cotton productiongrowth in the coming years due to the limitedavailability of arable land. In addition, China hasalready announced a 10% reduction in the land itwill dedicate to cotton cultivation for 2012.Worldwide cotton cultivation competes intensivelywith acreage devoted to more productive plants.Wool production, meanwhile, stagnated at onemillion tons, while preliminary figures show anincrease in global chemical fibre production of 2.9%for 2011, to 51.2 million tons, again setting a newrecord. Polyester accounted for close to three-quarters (73%) of total chemical fibre production.The comparable figures for manmade cellulosefibers – viscose, modal, lyocell, acetate etc. – showproduction rising by 4.2% in 2011 to a new recordlevel of 4.6 million tons. Source: Sustainable Nonwovens

Record Year for Fibres

India: BASF to Invest in New

Chemical Production Site in Dahej,

India

BASF India Limited will invest €150

million to set up a new chemical

production site at the Dahej

Pe t ro l eum, Chemica l s and

Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR), located

on the west coast of India in Gujarat. The new site will

be an integrated hub for polyurethane manufacturing

and will also house production facilities for care

chemicals and polymer dispersions for coatings and

paper. With this new production site, BASF aims to

ensure local supply for growing markets and industries

such as appliances, footwear, automotive,

construction, adhesives, architectural coatings, paper

and personal care. The start of production is planned

for 2014. The integrated polyurethane facility will

p roduce E las to l lan TPU (Thermop las t i c

Polyurethane), Cellasto NVH (Noise, Vibration and

Harshness) parts and Polyurethane Systems, which is

supported by new production facilities for important

precursors, comprising Polyetherols and Polyesterols

plants as well as a plant for processing crude MDI

(diphenylmethane diisocyanate). The care chemicals

facility at the new Dahej site will produce surfactants

largely for home and personal care. The polymer

dispersions facility at the site will produce Acronal

and Styrofan , key ingredients for architectural

coatings, adhesives, and construction, Styronal and

Basonal for paper coating and Basoplast for sizing.

BASF currently produces dispersions at an existing

plant in Mangalore.

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India: Freudenberg Filtration

Technologies in India Acquires

Pyramid Filters Private Limited

Freudenberg Filtration Technologies

India Private Limited has signed an

agreement to acquire the business of

Pyramid Filters Private Limited, with effect from April

1, 2012. The company develops air filter elements and

systems for cleanroom applications in the

pharmaceutical, medical, food and chemical

industries. In 2010 Pyramid Filters generated sales of

several million Euros. Dr. Andreas Kreuter, Managing

Director of Freudenberg Filtration Technologies

explains: "Founded in 1998, Pyramid Filters enjoys an

excellent reputation in India, thanks to its

comprehensive filter range for suspended particles

and its renowned services. Based on Pyramid's very

strong market position, we will be able to add new

products to our already broad portfolio and offer our

customers further services." With the "Viledon

eee.Sy" program, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies

India provides system solutions for capacity and

efficiency enhancement of turbo-compressors and gas

turbines.

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Industrial

Textiles

contd...

News

Geo

Textiles

29Jan - Jun 2012

Eco

Textiles

India: “Techgrid Geogrid is Now

BBA Certified”

Techfab India Industries Ltd.,

India's leading manufacturer

of geosynthetics has recently

secured the most prestigious

BBA certification for its TechGrid knitted and PVC

coated polyester geogrids. TFI manufactures a wide

range of geosynthetics – Techgrid knitted and PVC

coated geogrids, TechGlass bitumen coated fibre-

glass grids,TFI woven geotextiles, TechGeo

nonwoven geotextiles, TechPave paving fabrics,

TGC nonwoven composites, TechDrain pre-

fabricated vertical drains, polymeric and metal

gabions etc. These products have extensive

applications for the construction of highways,

railways, airports, ports, flyovers, road over rail

bridges, waste disposal facilities, coastal protection,

site development etc. Many product groups have the

CE certification which is a prerequisite for export of

product to Europe. TFI's products are being exported

to more than 25 countries. TFI was the first

company to manufacture geogrids in India. Over the

last six years, several millions of TechGrid geogrids

have been used to reinforce India’s infrastructure.

The manufacturing facilities are ISO 9001:2008

certified and several product groups including

TechGrid geogrids have CE certification.

China: Tencate Geosynthetics

Project Partner in Yellow River

Dike Monitoring

TenCate Geosynthetics and AGTInternational have signed a letter ofintent for collaboration on theinstallation of TenCate GeoDetecttechnology in a dike body at theYellow River in Dayulan (Zhengzhou) in the Henanprovince in China. TenCate GeoDetect is amonitoring system based on geotextiles withinterwoven fibre optics, which registers changes inembankments and dikes. The system will be used inthe AGT Flood Early Warning System. The AGT FloodEarly Warning System (FEWS) will be employed tocollect and analyse data on dike stability anddeformations in the dike and on the risk of flooding.These will provide a basis for taking measures toprevent subsidence or dike failure as quickly aspossible. The system is also able to do a floodprognosis and can assist decision makers in timelyevacuation. 'The collaboration of AGT Internationaland TenCate Geosynthetics is another greatexample of open innovation within our industry',states global group director Wally Moore. 'Thecombination of our geosynthetics and sensortechnology with partners such as AGT Internationalgives us an innovative and differentiated approachto the tracing of possible defects in and problemswith dikes and the hydraulic-infrastructuralsegment of our water & environmental activities.'

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Japan: Teijin Launches China's

First Closed-loop Recycling for

Uniforms

The Teijin Group announced the first

program in China for collecting and

recycling used uniforms, launched in

collaboration with Shandong Asahi

Green Source Hi-Tech Farm Co., Ltd.

and Shandong Asahi Green Source

Milk Products Co., Ltd., both

subsidiaries of Asahi Group Holdings.

The uniforms will be recycled using Teijin's Eco Circle,

an environmentally friendly closed-loop system

incorporating the world's first technology for the

chemical recycling of polyester, which Teijin Fibers

introduced in 2002. As part of the program, Teijin

Fibers' chemically recyclable polyester fiber is woven

into textiles and dyed by Nantong Teijin Co., Ltd.

Repeated recycling achieved with the Eco Circle

system significantly reduces both energy

consumption and carbon dioxide emissions compared

to conventional petroleum-based processes for

polyester production. Teijin is working with more than

150 apparel and sportswear manufacturers worldwide

to develop and manufacture products made from

recyclable materials, as well as to collect and recycle

these products at the end of their useful lives. The

manufacturers include well-known brands such as

Patagonia Inc. in the U.S., Henri Lloyd in the U.K. and

Quiksilver Europe in France.

India: Global Organic Textile

Standard (GOTS) Grows in India

The Global Organic Textile Standard

(GOTS) turned five years old in 2011,

adding 80 new companies and another

country (Kyrgyzstan) to the list of those

with GOTS-cert i f ied faci l i t ies,

expanding particularly in developed

countries, accrediting a 14 certification organization,

and receiving formal recognition by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture. By year's end, 2,714

facilities in 57 countries around the world were

certified to the organic apparel and textile standard

including 450 dyeing facilities, more than 220

spinning, knitting, and weaving units, and

approximately 160 printing and manufacturing

facilities. Overall, ten countries with the greatest

increase in facilities gaining GOTS certification in 2011

were: Germany, India, U.S., Austria, Bangladesh,

Switzerland, Greece, France, Belgium, and Denmark.

India has had the highest number of GOTS certified

facilities since 2009, increasing to 955 facilities in

2011. The facilities make or distribute organic cotton

and organic wool products ranging from home textiles,

apparel, children wear, accessories, kitchen aprons

etc. Sumit Gupta was appointed as the representative

for India in March 2012.

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...contd

contd...

News

30Jan - Jun 2012

Transport

Textiles

Transport

Textiles

Takata Corporation, a leading

global supplier of automotive safety

systems including seat belts, airbags and child

seats, completed the acquisition of two BAE

Systems subsidiaries: BAE Systems Safety Products

Inc., (based in Pompano Beach, Florida, USA) and

Schroth Safety Products GmbH (based in Arnsberg,

Germany).

The total acquisition price was approximately US$32

million. The two companies manufacture and

market a range of safety systems- related products,

including seat belts for airplanes and helicopters,

passenger safety equipment for military vehicles,

and seat belts and HANS (head and neck support)

for motor sport. Through these acquisitions, Takata

aims to strengthen its business in motor sport and

enter the aircraft safety arena, leveraging

technological expertise gained in automotive safety

systems to expand business in new areas.

US A : T a k a t a C o m p l e t e s

Acquisition of BAE Systems

Subsidiaries

India: Force Motors exits Man

Force Trucks

Force Motors said it

exited from its joint

v e n t u r e w i t h

Ge rmany ' s MAN

Truck & Bus AG to make commercial vehicles in India

by selling its stake for 150 million euro (over Rs 1,000

crore). In 2006, Pune-based Force Motors and MAN

Truck & Bus had formed a JV- MAN FORCE Trucks Pvt

Ltd (MFTPL)- to produce heavy commercial vehicles.

Earlier in November 2011, Force Motors had said it will

"almost exit" its joint venture with MAN Truck & Bus

AG by selling 5.58 lakh shares. It, however, had said

both the companies will continue to cooperate with

each other regarding MFTPL that will be based on the

new contractual arrangement being agreed. During

the formation of the JV, the Indian firm was the

majority partner with 80% stake, which later became

a 50:50 partnership in 2008. In 2003, Force Motors

had planned to manufacture heavy commercial

vehicles for the Indian market by sourcing technology

under licence agreement. It had procured engines,

cabs and axles from MAN, while gearboxes were

sourced from ZF. Later, the domestic firm formed the

joint venture company with MAN. Source: Business

standard

USA: Lear Signs Agreement to

Acquire Guilford Mills, A Global

Leader in Automotive and

Specialty Fabrics, from Cerberus

Lear Corporation, a

leading global supplier of

automotive seating and

e l e c t r i c a l p o w e r

management systems, announced that it has signed

an agreement to acquire Guilford Mills, a privately-

held portfolio company of Cerberus Capital

Management, L.P. that manufactures fabrics for the

automotive and specialty markets. Guilford, which

is headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, has

been a supplier of fabrics to automotive and

specialty markets for over 40 years and has

expertise in fabric design, development, warping,

knitting, dyeing, finishing and lamination. The

closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur

in the second quarter of 2012, is subject to

customary conditions, including regulatory

approvals. Financial terms of the transaction were

not disclosed.

“The acquisition of Guilford is another step in

Lear's strategy to strengthen our core businesses

by expanding our component capabilities," said

Matt Simoncini, Lear's President and CEO. "This

acquisition adds global fabric design and

development resources, as well as technical

expertise to our existing seat trim capabilities in

emerging markets and fabric production in Asia.

By acquiring Guilford, we will enhance the value

and quality that we are able to provide to our

customers and increase opportunities for future

business growth.”

Japan: Faurecia and Howa Textile

Sign Joint-venture Agreement for

Vehicle Interiors

Building on its growing globalbusiness with Japanese automakers,in particular with Nissan, Faurecia–the world's N°1 supplier of vehicleinterior systems– announced that ithas signed a new 50/50 joint-venture agreement withHowa Textile Industry Co., Ltd. The new joint-venture– Faurecia Howa Interiors (FHI)– will be basedin Atsugi (Japan) and will be dedicated to thedevelopment of vehicle interior systems such as doorpanels, in-vehicle insulation, soft trim and roof trim.The objective of the partnership is to become apreferred Nissan supplier in Japan for door panels andsoft trims and boost efforts to provide joint supportfrom Faurecia and Howa to Nissan on a truly globalbasis. Specifically, FHI will support manufacturingactivity in the following regions and countries: NorthAmerica (Mexico, USA), Europe (UK, Russia andSpain), Asia (Japan, China, India, Indonesia,Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand), South America(Argentina and Brazil) as well as in South Africa. Basedon current assumptions, FHI targets €100 millionNissan sales by its parent companies by 2016. Firstbusiness awards have already been booked for a newglobal vehicle to be assembled at five differentlocations in Mexico, Thailand, South Africa, Spain andSouth America. Total targeted production of this newvehicle is expected to exceed 400,000 units per year.

...contd

contd...

News

31Jan - Jun 2012

Sport

Textiles

On occasion of the 50 DORNBIRN-

MFC the changes in our fibre world

were clearly noticeable and visible.

The future challenges are already accounted for in

the choice of main themes for 2012 showing a more

accentuated character of innovation and relevance.

The plenary session will start on the opening day

with a lecture including a discussion on the topic:

“Mobility 2050 – Trends an Scenarios” held by the

Zukunftsinstitut Kelkheim / Germany, followed by a

study of the Hochschule Niederrhein / Germany

together with a Consultant Company from Germany

on the topic “Effects of a Sustainable Procurement

of Textiles and Garments on the Purchase Behaviour

of Consumers”.

With more than 30 individual presentations

during all 2½ days “Fibre Innovations

(Sustainability)” is leading, followed by some

20 on “Fibres and Textiles in Automotive

(Mobility)” due to a strong

p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f c a r

manufacturers and their

supp l i e r s . The top i c s

“Unconvent iona l F ib re

Applications” with more than

15, “Man-made Fibres for Environmental

Protection”, “Medical Applications” and “Technical

Nonwovens (Filtration, Membranes)” will be

represented with some 10 presentations each as

well as “EU Research Projects” with 4.

A strong Japanese delegation, consisting of

representatives from leading fibre manufacturers

will present its newest developments in the various

main themes. These regional focuses will also be

found in the congresses of the coming years.

Further details of lectures will be published on our

homepage .

The objective of the visual translation of the “fit for

the future” realignment after the 50 year jubilee

includes is to show a new, modernised promotional

appearance that reflects the future oriented

organisation of the congress. In a first step a new

logo has been developed that reflects the claim:

meeting point of the international man-made fibre

world, more dynamics, information and innovation.

For the first time we are going to have a so called

poster-session at the end of the plenary meeting,

whereby 6 students will have the opportunity to

present a short version of their research work.

The session of the working group “Textiles in

Automotive” will take place in Dornbirn one day

prior to the opening of the 51 DORNBIRN-MFC.

This offers an excellent opportunity to obtain latest

information on the topic of use of man-made fibres.

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st

For registration until 31 May 2012 an early bird bonus will be offered. Make

use of this bonus and simply register online at: .

st

www.dornbirn-mfc.com

www.dornbirn-mfc.com

AUSTRIA: 51 Dornbirn Man-

made Fibres Congress (Dornbirn-

MFC), 19 – 21 September 2012

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Technical

Textiles

USA: Nike, Inc. Announces

Strategic Partnership to Scale

Waterless Dyeing Technology

NIKE, Inc. announced that it has

ente red in to a s t ra teg i c

partnership with DyeCoo Textile

Systems B.V., a Netherlands-

based company that has developed and built the

first commercially available waterless textile dyeing

machines. By using recycled carbon dioxide,

DyeCoo’s technology eliminates the use of water in

the textile dyeing process. The name “DyeCoo” was

inspired by the process of “dyeing” with “CO .” The

partnership is illustrative of NIKE, Inc.’s long-term

commitment to designing and developing the most

superior athletic performance products for athletes

and its overall sustainable business and innovation

strategy.

"We’re very excited to be partnering with Nike to

help drive this together and believe the benefits and

impacts of this technology are significant," says

Reinier Mommaal, CEO of DyeCoo.” There is no

water consumption, a reduction in energy use, no

auxiliary chemicals required, no need for drying,

and the process is twice as fast. The technology can

also improve the quality of the dyed fabric, allows

for greater control over the dyeing process, enables

new dye capabilities and transforms fabric dyeing so

that it can take place just about anywhere. We hope

more industry leaders will join us in leveraging this

innovative technology in the near future."

Conventional textile dyeing requires substantial

amounts of water. On average, an estimated 100-

150 litres of water is needed to process one kg of

textile materials today. Industry analysts estimate

that more than 39 million tonnes of polyester will be

dyed annually by 2015. Nike says it expects

DyeCoo’s supercritical fluid carbon dioxide, or “SCF”

CO dyeing technology, to have a particularly

positive impact in Asia, where much of the world’s

textile dyeing occurs. As this technology is brought

to scale, large amounts of water used in

conventional textile dyeing will no longer be needed,

nor will the commensurate use of fossil fuel-

generated energy be required to heat such large

sums of water. The removal of water from the textile

dyeing process also eliminates the risk of effluent

discharge, a known environmental hazard. The CO

used in DyeCoo’s dyeing process is also reclaimed

and reused.

DyeCoo is believed to be the first company to

successfully apply the SCF CO process to the

commercial dyeing of polyester fabric, and research

is already underway to apply the technology to other

natural and synthetic fabrics. SCF CO technology is

safely utilized at scale in other industries such as the

decaffeination of coffee and the extraction of natural

flavors and fragrances.

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...contd

FieldTurf has recently launched two new and innovative fire-retardant artificial turf product

technologies – FieldTurf FlameGuard infill pellets and FieldTurf FR fibres – both of which are

geared towards filling a need in the synthetic turf industry, and in particular, for indoor

applications. FieldTurf’s FlameGuard infill pellets are patent-pending infill solutions installed as a very small top

dressing layer to any FieldTurf system in order to achieve a Class 1 rating in the ASTM E648-08/NFPA 253/FTM

Standard 372 test for fire-retardant turf systems. Of note, FieldTurf’s FlameGuard Green infill pellets are produced

with recycled turf materials – making this the ultimate environmental solution without sacrificing performance in

any way. FieldTurf has also produced FieldTurf FR, an exciting new flame-retardant artificial grass fiber. Not just an

improvement to existing technologies, it is in a whole new class of its own. This fire-retardant fibre is built with a

special formula - and no heavy metals. Yet it is still designed to be the very highest performing fibre in the

marketplace today. The fire-retardant infill pellets and fibres are innovative solutions to passing strict fire tests and

building codes – without sacrificing playability and performance. FieldTurf’s revolutionary fire retardant materials

and systems have scored extremely high on stringent industry fire tests and can meet and exceed any indoor or

outdoor flame test or building code – without sacrificing performance or adding unnecessary high costs for clients.

Teijin Techno Products Limited, a

Teijin group company producing

advanced a ram id f i b res ,

announced the development of the world's first mass-

producible aramid nanofiber to offer reliable heat and

oxidation resistance together with high quality. Until

now, aramid nanofibres have been produced only in

laboratories, so this first commercially viable product

represents a significant step forward in the evolution

of this promising new material. Teijin Techno Products'

nanofiber, which is uniformly sized with a diameter of

just several hundred nanometers is based on Teijin's

proprietary Teijinconex heat-resistant meta-aramid.

Teijin Techno Products' highly heat-resistant aramid

nanofiber sheet maintains its shape even at 300°C. It

is also highly resistant to oxidation. Such features are

expected to enhance the safety of high-power, high-

capacity, energy-dense LIBs for vehicles and

stationary storage, offering significant advantages

over conventional separators in terms of reducing the

risk of ignition in high-capacity, energy-dense

applications.

Teijin Develops World's First

Mass-production Aramid Nanofibre

CLIMAT - A New Brand of Professional Vapour Permeable Roof And Wall Membranes

FieldTurf Launches Fire-Retardant Infill and Fibre Synthetic Turf Components

A Tarkett Sports Company

New Twaron Fabric Reduces Back

Face Deformation by up to 30 Percent

®

Teijin Aramid launched its newest

fabric Twaron LFT SB1 plus at the

SHOT Show in Las Vegas, 17-20

January 2012.

Twaron LFT SB1 plus is suitable for the next generation

of soft ballistic vests which are used as anti-ballistic

protection by soldiers and policemen. Teijin Aramid

offers with LFT SB1 plus an integrated solution that

combines high ballistic performance with comfort,

flexibility and a 30% decrease of Back Face

Deformation (BFD).”By developing the new fabric with

up to 30% less BFD, they have found a solution where

they decrease the trauma and do not increase the

weight of the vest.”

The fabric consists of four layers of Twaron, arranged in

0°, 90°, +45° and -45° orientations, and laminated

together with a small amount of resin. This makes it a

soft and flexible material, offering wearers both

protection and comfort. When used in protective vests it

offers similar ballistic performance without additional

weight.

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Product in Focus

33Jan - Jun 2012

Fiberweb launched a new brand of premium roofing accessories at the Dach & Holz exhibition in

Stuttgart. CLIMAT is a comprehensive system of vapour permeable roof and wall membranes as

well as vapour control layers that are based on three decades of experience in the production of

complex technical nonwoven fabrics. With CLIMAT, Fiberweb’s European building segment will initiate its own

brand, relying on a strong collaboration between manufacturing specialists and application professionals to serve

new segments (i.e. national building merchants) with superior quality and service gaining closer proximity to the

end market. All critical components of the roof and wall membranes will be manufactured in Germany at Fiberweb

Berlin GmbH and incorporate the very latest in material and production expertise. The range of vapour permeable

roof underlays is designed to meet the market demands for superior product quality combined with sound expertise

from experienced technical experts directly from the trade. Fiberweb Berlin GmbH is recognised for quality ‘made

in Germany’ and as a European market leader in private label vapour permeable roof underlays and vapour control

layers. A complementary accessory range such as ridge and hip rolls, flashing and abutments as well as a

comprehensive range of adhesive tapes and sealants further completes the product offering.

Medical Textiles

Factors that have Delayed the Entry of Wet Wipes in Indian Market

a) Cotton based economy

b) Water availability and dusty / moist environment

c) Habit of saving and slow acceptability of lifestyle products

d) Joint families and housewife culture

India's cotton based economy has enabled the producers of cloth, to offer variety of products (or by products)

for range of wiping applications.

- Cotton handkerchief is a necessary product with every individual

- Worn out cotton cloths are used to wrap and wipe the new born babies and their bottoms

- Cotton rags are abundantly available, and widely acceptable for all industrial cleaning as well as at the food

joints

- Kitchen and other household wiping is also done mainly by old linen cloths

Every Indian child learns to bath daily and to wash hands for at least 10-15 times in a day with fresh running water.

Availability of fresh water has built this habit as a part of Indian culture. Indians are yet to accept that wiping with

wet cloth can help them get rid of dirt and germs. The humid weather conditions and dusty working environment

helps in creating a need for repeated splash or wash with running water to keep the skin fresh. However wet wipe

producers are looking at this factor to favor their growth prospects.

Decades of poverty during 20 century has made the society in a habit of saving their earnings, and keeping very

low share of their spending for lifestyle products

India is traditionally a rural agri based economy, which has large joint families, with females sitting at home taking

care of the house & babies. There is enough time for washing and preparing the cotton nappies.

th

Mr. Rahul Bansal – DGM, Marketing & Business Development, Birla Cellulose

Indian Wet Wipes Market : FinallyTaking-off

Changing Indian Urban Space

Post globalization of economy in 1990s, Indian retail market started shifting towards an organized one, and urban

India with increased international interactions, started appreciating the lifestyle and convenience products. Taking the

hint from changing lifestyles during last decade, and increasing disposable income with steady increase in middle class

population; many companies started preparing their strategies to enter the Indian wipes market.

For the last 5-6 years, wet wipes looked like a

promising upcoming segment, but never took-off

that way. Year 2011-12 has been full of activity.

There was aggressive media campaign from Birla

Cellulose-CPD, for skincare wipes brand 'Kara'.

The retail visibility of wipes also increased on

shelves, and many globally leading baby wipe

brands launched their products. Diaper sales

continued its growth at double digits, and people

have also started finding the baby wipes of

tremendous convenience during the diaper

changes. Globally, this has already helped wipes

sales to take-off in its initial years, riding with the

growth of diaper sales. With all these strong

positive developments, 2012 is surely set to

register a further healthy growth curve for wet

wipes sales in India. Finally, the wet wipes industry

in India is taking-off.

For many years, Indian retail market is showing a

healthy trend in terms of sales of disposable

hygiene products; thanks to the rising disposable

income of the middle class. However, one large

missing segment from the disposables was

nonwoven based wet wipe products. For a long

time, when other Asian economies showed high

growth in wet wipe sales, Indian consumer was

still to accept it as a product worth giving even a

try. Wet wipe products were limited to 2-3 brands

across the categories five years ago. However,

recent years, and specially year 2011 has showed

tremendous activity in this segment, and the retail

presence has increased with the availability of

large number of brands.

34Jan - Jun 2012

Introduction

contd...

Medical Textiles

Year 2011 has seen tremendous amount of activity in wet

wipes market. There was an aggressive media campaign

from Birla Cellulose-CPD (div. of Grasim Industries Ltd),

for skincare wipes brand 'Kara'. The campaign highlighted

the ability to refresh the face, while the person is on the

move. Its punch line

&

impinged on the same. The retail visibility of wipes also

increased on shelves, and many globally leading baby

wipe brands launched their products (See Table 1) . Their

media campaigns and retail visibility helped the baby

wipes segment to establish and relate itself with the baby

diapers. Diaper sales continued its growth at double

digits, and people have also started finding the baby

wipes of tremendous convenience during the diaper

changes. Globally, this has already helped wipes sales to

take-off in its initial years, riding with the growth of diaper

sales. Year 2011 witnessed more than 30% increase in

sales of wet wipes. Moreover, with increase in number of

players, and entry of large multinational brands, year

2012 is going to witness further momentum, and sales

volume is expected to grow at even higher rate.

“Hanky se face saaf karna – dirty

habit” “Kara – face refresh karne ka specialist”

A major event in the Indian wet wipes industry was the

installation of Spunlace nonwoven production capacity

by Ginni Filaments Ltd. Spunlace being the key raw

material became readily available for the convertors. As

the size of the market was small and did not make large

converting viable, it was a major boost for convertors,

including Ginni's own converting business. Other raw

materials were already available locally. It gave chance

to lot of Indian FMCG brands for the launching of wet

wipes as product extensions at retail. Grasim Industries

Ltd. who is a global leader in Viscose Staple Fibres (main

raw material for spunlace nonwoven) also took initiative

by putting-up spunlace capacity, along with converting

capacity, and started investing in creating their wet/dry

wipes brands (Kara, Puretta, Handys & Prim). As a

result, the wipes market has shown a CAGR of more than

20% in the last 4 years. Market is estimated to have

crossed around Rs 60 Crore in terms of MRP sales value.

Evolution of Wet Wipes as a Category for

Indian Retailers

The raw materials required for the production of wet

wipe packs are mentioned below. All the raw materials-

are domestically available.(except airlaid nonwoven,

which is rarely used).

- The nonwovens used for production of wet

wipes are Spunlace & Airlaid, with spunlace taking over

90% of the volume. Spunlace is domestically available at

globally competitive prices. India also has its unique

strong positioning for key fibres used for production of

spunlace i.e. Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) and Polyester

Staple Fibres (PSF) with large production base of global

leaders like Birla Cellulose (Grasim Industries Ltd) and

Reliance Industries Ltd supporting the nonwoven

producers.

Nonwoven

Competitive Availability of the Raw Materials

Wet Wipes Market - The 2011 LeapYear

Multilayer Laminate

Re-sealable Stickers

Formulation

– There are large as well as

small, national as well as regional producers of

multilayer laminates available in every region, at

competitive prices, and as per specific requirements.

- The leading adhesive paper

sheets used for stickers in wet wipe packs accepted

globally are available in India, with number of

convertors willing to print, die-cut & supply the re-

sealable stickers as per the requirements.

– Ready standard formulations as well

individual ingredients for preparation of specific

formulation are available through a number of

multinational and Indian companies.

35Jan - Jun 2012

Table 1: Wet Wipes Product Analysis for India (2011-12)

Baby Wipes Skin Care WipesRefreshing

Wipes

Present

Estimated

Market Share

Major Brands

Pack Size

Products

J&J, Himalaya,

Pigeon, Pampers,

Huggies, Mamy

Poko, Puretta, Nuby

72s, 40s, 24s,

20s25s, 10s, 5s

60% 8%

Kara, Clea

Make-up remover ,

Sunscreen, Moisturizing ,

Deep pore cleansing, Skin

toning wipes, …& many

others

Hygiene

Wipes

30s, 25s,

10s, 5s, 1s

40s, 20s,

10s, 1s

30%* 2%

Kara, Clea,

Clarus

Cleansing /

Moisturizing wipes

Germ shield wipes

Fragrance free

wipes

Refreshing &

cleansing

wipes

Anti bacterial

wipes, Patient

care wipes,

Hand hygiene

wipes

Handys,

Wiclenz

‘*’ including promotional wipes sales

...contd

Single-use drapes and gowns are used daily as protective barriers in a majority of hospitals. In today’s

healthcare environment, safety, barrier qualities, cost and infection prevention are key words of

supreme importance in patient care. Single-use products meet these challenges & more. With the

emerging knowledge of the harmful effects of blood borne pathogens and the resulting federal OSHA

rule, healthcare practices require that apparel and draping materials be constructed and used in a way

that prevents cross-contamination of infectious agents.

The following factors should be carefully considered in decisions to use single-use vs. Reusable gowns and drapes: a.)

Dual protection for both healthcare professionals and patients. Impermeability (to prevent strike-through) is a

significant criterion in choosing appropriate gowns & drapes. b.) Assurance of asepsis, barrier effectiveness, comfort,

and environmental issues must be given priority in the selection process. Gowns & drapes are to be effective barriers

when wet. For reusable materials, the ability to maintain barrier qualities throughout multiple washing is critical but

also has been questioned. c.) Correctly assessing reusable materials. There are no universally adopted methods for

counting numbers of uses of reusables. Laundry workers risk exposure to blood borne pathogens from contaminated

gowns & drapes. d.) Accurate assessment of costs are difficult at best. A comprehensive evaluation of costs require a

review of all related costs, some of which may initially be unapparent.

Eighty percent of hospitals in the US use single-use gowns & drapes. Why? Clinical users are satisfied with the

performance of single-use gowns & drapes in terms of barrier properties, safety, consistency & comfort. Safety

issues, especially those related to adequate protection of professional staff & patients, are of paramount

importance. Issues relating to cost & environmental impact have been studied and the results are inconclusive at

this point. Misleading statements are often issued to convince healthcare professionals that reusable are superior to

single-use items. This article contains information, derived from experts, professional organizations, literature and

respected publications that set the record straight. The importance & necessity of barrier protection, criteria for

selection & the reasons for selection of single-use over reusable items are all discussed and referred in this article.

Introduction

The necessity of barrier

protection & professional

guidelines make single-use

items ideal choices. Barrier

properties are of great

importance with a shift

from user comfort & cost to

user & patient protection.

Gowns & drapes act as barriers to prevent transmission

of microorganisms from non sterile to sterile areas.

Impermeability to moisture is a critical factor in choosing

materials for gowns & drapes.

Protection of HCWs from

and other resistant

organisms & blood borne pathogens is necessary for safe

practices, choices are made on safety issues & cost.

Exposure to blood has for years has been recognized as a

risk for infection, so barriers are needed. The OSHA

blood borne pathogens standard requires Personal

Protective Equipment (PPE) or clothing, such as

coagulase-negative

Staphylococcus Aureus, Methici l l in-resistant

Staphylococcus Aureus(MRSA)

gowns,

in situations where blood or OPIM (Other potentially

infectious materials) may pass through & reach the

HCWs clothes, skin, eyes or mouth. The type of gown

required is dependant on the task & the degree of

exposure anticipated. The OSHA standard contains strict

definitions of the employers responsibilities for protection

of hospital employees.

An association of Peri Operative Registered Nurses

(AORN) statement says that barrier materials should

prevent the penetration of microorganisms, particulate &

fluids. Liquid resistant aprons, gowns & shoe covers are

worn when exposure to blood or OPIM is anticipated.

AORN further states that surgical gowns & drapes should

be appropriate barriers, maintain adequate integrity &

durability, resist tears, punctures, fibre strains &

abrasions & should be used & processed according to

manufacture’s written instructions. AORN notes that

reusable fabrics (woven material) should maintain a

protective barrier through laundering & sterilization.

The Center of Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) states

that gowns & drapes are used to create a barrier between

the surgical field & potential sources of bacteria. Both

should be impermeable to liquids & viruses. Gowns &

drapes should be effective barriers when wet (i.e. consist

of materials that resist liquid penetration).

Do you really expect your surgical gown to look, feel &

perform the same after 75 washes? Of course, not.

Repeated laundering of reusable hospital textiles do take

a toll. There is a strong case supporting the use of single

Single - use vs.

Reusable Gowns & Drapes

Necessity of Barrier Protection

Issues Unique to Reusable

Mr. Sanjiiiv Relhan, ,Managing Director, Shalex Overseas Pvt. Ltd.

Medical Textiles

Jan - Jun 201236contd...

Medical Textiles

Jan - Jun 2012

-use products because of regularity & consistency in

barrier protection for both hospital staff & patients in

what can be life & death situations. The cumulative effect

of laundering on barrier efficacy has been studied.

Reusable (used) gowns provided less protection than

new gowns.

The ability of reusable (cloth) gowns to resist strike

through varies with the material’s age, if beyond the

useful life, these gowns may give a false sense of

security to the wearer. Processing eventually diminishes

protective barrier ability of woven materials. Tightly

woven reusable fabric will lose this barrier ability after

repeated processing. Laundering & steam sterilization

cause fibres to swell & drying, ironing cause fibres to

shrink, increasing the propensity to loosen the fibres,

thereby altering the fabric structure. As the number of

laundering of reusable increase, repellence rating

decrease.

The overall conclusion of another

independent study was that single-use

gowns & drapes seem to offer better

protection than standard linen. There

are advantages & disadvantages to

both reusable & single-use systems.

Single-use items consume more raw material & energy

& generate more solid waste but Reusable items

significantly consume more water & produce more

water pollution with detergents & chemicals. They also

generate more volatile organic compounds as air

emissions. Against any standard the choice is clear.

Single-use items offer substantial benefits. The

reasons are sound as they provide optimum barrier

protection, consistent quality & dependability each

time they are used. The result is .Peace of Mind

Summary

DID YOU KNOW?�

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Some of the linen fabrics found inEgyptian civilisation were so fine,that they had 216 warp threadsper cm, while the finest linenwoven in modern Europe had only140 warp threads/ cm

US paper currency isn't paper at all... it's a blend of75% cotton lint and 25% linen. A 480 pound bale ofcotton can be made into 313,600 $100.00 bills!

You can differentiate fabrics based on how they burn

Silk is a protein and does not conduct heat. Thismakes it an extremely good insulator and so it’s notjust great for clothes but silk is even used forinsulating electric wires and astronaut’s clothing.Silk is an amazing fabric as it can be warm to wearbecause it prevents body heat from dissipating butas well, when used for light-weight clothing likelingerie, it is very cool fabric as the fine fiber permitsair to pass through the material. Silk filament has agreater tensile strength than steel

37

...contd

Medical Textiles

Jan - Jun 201238

Advanced Wound CareMaking Advances...

Wounds

Wound Dressings: An Important Requisite for Healing

Classification of Wound Dressings

Dressings can also be classified as:

, prima facie, are always associated with pain. On hearing of wounds, almost all of

us, inherently start feeling the pain. But apart from causing pain, wounds can confront an

individual's well being, self reliance, abilities and independence.

In medical terminology, a wound is a type of injury in which skin is torn, cut or punctured. It

can range from bruises, lacerations, incisions after surgery on one end, to burn injuries, venous

leg ulcers and pressure sores on the extreme end. Whether acute or chronic, wounds can affect

us physically, socially, psychologically as well as economically. These implications point towards the

fact that good wound care management is necessary not only for the individual but also for the

community at large.

Wound care management presents a holistic approach for better healing and comprises of mainly:

Proper education to care givers

Correct assessment of wound

Dressings selection and usage

Pain and trauma management throughout wound healing

While appropriate wound management by qualified healthcare professionals is

an integral part of treatment success, dressing choice and specification is equally

important. The wound healing is enhanced by the proper dressing techniques

and suitable dressing materials. No single dressing is suitable for all types of

wounds. Often a number of different types of dressings will be used during the

healing process of a wound. But, above all, an should perform one orideal dressing

more of the following functions:

Maintain a moist environment at the wound/dressing interface

Absorb excess exudates without leakage to the surface of dressing

Provide thermal insulation and mechanical protection

Provide bacterial protection

Allow gaseous and fluid exchange

Absorb wound odour

Be non-adherent to the wound and easily removed without trauma

Provide some debridement action (remove dead tissue and/or foreign particles)

Be non-toxic, non allergenic and sterile

Depending upon their mechanism, wound dressings can be broadly categorised into following types:

Gauze and bandages have been in use for quite long time for wound care but their usage is

now limited to only mild wounds or as secondary dressings. These passive dressings stick to the skin and can disrupt

the wound bed when removed. Various surveys done with patients regarding the trauma related to wound dressing

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Traditional dressings:

Traditional dressings that

act as a cover over wound

e.g. gauze

vs isa eP

Polymeric films

and foams that are permeable

to water vapours, oxygen

but not to bacteria

e.g. hydrocolloids

trace ivt enI

Dressings which deliver

substances active in wound

healing

e.g. alginates

iacto vi eB

‘Warm and moist environment enhances wound healing’

Stages of Wound Healing

Hemostasis Phase:

0-2 days in length;

Thrombin converts to fibrinogen

Inflammatory Phase:

2-4 days in length;

Redness and swelling

Proliferation Phase:

4-21 days in length;

Wound contraction

Rebuilding of tissues

Maturation Phase:

May extend upto 2 years;

Remodeling of tissues

contd...

Medical Textiles

Jan - Jun 2012

Medical Textiles

ctsudorPeraCdnuoW

de

cn

av

dA

Advanced dressings: These dressings are mainly interactive and bioactive products which have been designed to

enhance the process of healing.The importantadvanceddressings are:

Which Dressing to Use??

As the properties of the dressings differ, there is no single product which is

suitable for all wound types or all stages of wound healing. Thus, a flexible

approach to the selection of wound care products is required. Suitable dressing

options for different wounds are as follows:

Dry necrotic wounds- Hydrocolloids, semi permeable dressings

Infected wounds- Alginates or hydrocolloid if high exudates, silver containing

dressings

Burns (minor)- Gauze and other passive products

Burns (major)- Plastic wraps and medicated tulle, other dressings to be used once wound starts

healing

Chronic wounds (pressure ulcers)- Hydrocolloids, alginates

Venous leg ulcers- Hydrocolloids, alginates with compression bandage

Cavity wounds- Alginate sheets cut into strips

Heavily exuding wounds- Foam dressings, alginates

Moderately exuding wounds- Hydrocolloids, alginates

Lightly exuding wounds- Hydrogels, hydrocolloids

Wound care market is a competitive market with variety of products available across a wide range

of quality and varied price points. The approximate market value of wound dressings in India is USD

148.2 Mn in the year 2009, a major portion of which, is covered by traditional wound dressings. Though

advanced wound care products are available in the market (mainly due to imports), these are not being adapted

rapidly because of their perceived high cost. However, apart from quick healing, advanced wound dressings require

fewer changes and put less demand on the time of care giver, thereby, reducing the total resources used. The key

drivers for consumption of wound care products are ageing population and improved health care practices. But, the

growth of the market will be enhanced by constant demand for products that speed up wound healing.

Manufacturers are making a shift in focus from traditional to advanced dressings and its time now for the consumers

and care givers to come along. So, we can see that the market for advanced wound care products in India has

tremendous potential for growth.

Indian Wound Care Market

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Dressings Functional Properties & Applications Commercial Products

Foam and Foam

Film Dressings

Hydrocolloids

Hydrogels

Alginates

Collagens

De-odouriser

Dressings

Polyurethane foam dressings with adhesive layer incorporated.They provide thermal

insulation, maintain moist wound environment and are non-adherent. Suitable for light,

moderate or heavily exuding wounds including leg ulcers.

Polyurethane film coated with adhesive mass. By providing a moist environment, they

help promoting automatic debridement of wounds.These sheets are occlusive and are

suitable for clean, granulating, necrotic with low to moderate exudates.

Composed mainly of water in a complex network of fibres that keep the polymer intact.

They have hydrophilic sites which help to absorb excess exudates. Suitable for lightly

exuding wounds, necrotic wounds and shallow granulating wounds.

Composed of calcium alginate. Highly absorbent dressings which act via ion-exchange

mechanism, absorbing serous exudates and forming a hydrophilic gel that conforms

to the shape of the wound. . Used for cavity and moderate to heavily exuding wounds.

Composed of fibre forming protein of mammalian connective tissue . It contributes to

process of healing by attracting ganulocytes and fibroblasts into wounds and reduces

wound contraction etc.

These dressings contain activated charcoal responsible for reduction of offensive odour.

Silver can also be incorporated to inhibit bacterial growth. Suitable for exuding and

contaminated wounds complicated by bacterial infection .

Allevyn Adhesive

Lyofoam

Tielle

Aquacel

Granuflex

DuoDERM

Aquafoam

Nu-Gel

Sterigel

Algisite M

Sorbasan

Kaltostat

Suprasorb C

Promogran

Oasis

Actisorb Silver

Carboflex

Denidor

The wound care market has a great market potential in India and is poised to grow once the role

of advanced wound care products in wound management is emphasised to the medical fraternity.

“According to a multinational survey

done by

on pain at

wound dressing changes, it was

found that gauze was the product

which most often caused pain while

hydrogels, hydrocolloids caused less.”

The WoundEuropean

Management Association

...contd

39

Jan - Jun 2012

Carbon Fibre Composites Usage

on Light Combat Aircraft –TEJAS Airframe

Introduction

Indian Scenario

Ever increasing demand by the designers for efficient

materials to meet the stringent performance

requirements of modern aircraft has led to several

breakthroughs in material technologies in the last few

decades. Combining two or more materials to realize a

better material has fueled the imagination of material

engineers to come up with exotic class of materials

called composite materials. Advent of fibre reinforced

composite materials is perhaps one of the most

significant developments in the structural materials

arena. Such materials have helped the structural

designers to come up with complex designs that would

meet the performance challenges of modern aircraft.

Availability of strong and stiff carbon fibres as

reinforcements and high-performance resins as matrix

materials have immensely helped to realize very

efficient structures with fibre reinforced composite

materials. Carbon fibre composites constitute the major

proportion of composites usage on aerospace platforms.

While, internationally, both civilian and military aircraft

designs have exploited the benefits of composites and

the use of these materials has been increasing over the

years, perhaps the most glowing example from India is

the large-scale use of advanced composites in the Indian

Aerospace platforms like the ALH-DHRUV, LCA-TEJAS

and HANSA.

Internationally, major civilian aircraft manufacturers

like Boeing and AIRBUS have significantly increased the

usage of carbon fibre composites in their latest aircraft

designed and built by them. Boeing has employed nearly

50% of the airframe with composites on Boeing-787

Dreamliner, of which, major proportion is made of

advanced carbon fibres. It is important to note here that

nearly 35 tons of carbon composite will be used on each

airframe of Boeing-787. Such usage has resulted in

major consolidation and capacity expansions amongst

the manufacturers of carbon fibres.

In the last three decades or so, a number of aerospace

platforms have been developed in the country. These

developments include the Advanced Light Helicopter

(ALH-Dhruv) by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL),

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-TEJAS) by Aeronautical

Development Agency with HAL as the principal partner,

HANSA, two-seater trainer aircraft by National Aerospace

Laboratories (NAL-CSIR) and a number of launch vehicles

and satellites by ISRO-DoS. All these developments have

beneficially employed composite materials for the

realization of the respective structures –mostly with

carbon and glass fibre reinforced composites and to a

limited extent with aramid fibre reinforced composites.

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-TEJAS) is a multi-role combat

aircraft and is the smallest aircraft in its class amongst the

contemporary aircraft. LCA-TEJAS has an unstable

configuration and controlled at all times by a fly-by-wire

control system through on-board computers. Among the

important requirements for the airframe of such an

aircraft are the light-weight construction, high degree of

reliability over a long period and the need to have

aerodynamic shapes which will provide high aerodynamic

efficiency under operating (deformed) conditions. It was

realised that in order to meet these demands, it is

necessary to have materials with high specific strength

and stiffness that can take complex shapes easily and

provide adequate fatigue and corrosion resistance. The

composites, in particular the advanced fibre reinforced

composites using carbon fibres in polymer matrices, offer

several of these features as given below.

Light-weight due to high specific strength and

stiffness

Fatigue-resistance and corrosion resistance

Ability to optimize the directional strength and

stiffness

�

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Light Combat Aircraft

Materials Distribution on LCA TEJAS

Others

2.5 %

CFC

45 %

Steels

4.5 %

Ti-alloys

5 %

Al-alloys

43 %

GLASS COMPOSITE

ALUMINIUM

CARBON COMPOSITE

KEVLAR COMPOSITE

Dr. K Vijayaraju, Group Director (Composites & Fatigue), Aeronautical Development Agency, India

contd...

40

Transport Textiles

CFC

45.0%

Others

2.5%

Al-alloys

43.0%

Steels

4.50%Ti-alloys

5%

Jan - Jun 2012

...contd

vehicles. The current trend in the aerospace sector is also

to use co-curing and co-bonding processes to produce

integral components that will avoid use of fasteners

altogether.

Aerospace Carbon Fibres technology predominantly is

based on PAN (Poly Acrylo Nitrile) precursor based and

has been improving significantly over the last two

decades. New varieties of carbon fibres in terms of better

combinations of modulus and strength have become

available from a number of suppliers. Major thrusts in

carbon fibre development seems to have progressed in

two directions : one is aimed essentially towards higher

strength levels (5 GPa) with moderate modulus levels (at

about 300-400 GPa) and the other towards high modulus

levels (500 GPa) concurrently achieving moderate

strength (3.5 – 4.0 Gpa).

It is to be noted here that the carbon fibre composites

which use a carbon fibre with a strength of 3 GPa as

reinforcement result in an allowable stress of only 0.5

GPa in a composite. This is attributed to a number of

factors – one among them being the low failure strains of

carbon fibres. It is now quite clear that fibres with higher

fibre failure strain will facilitate the realization of

composites with better damage tolerance and new fibre

products are all delivering improved fibre failure strains -

by about 15 – 20%. While significant scope does exist to

translate the high fibre properties into high performance

in composites, improved properties of carbon fibres

cannot be fully exploited in the aerospace carbon fibre

composites without concurrent improvements in the

matrix resins used and improvement/development of

product forms like preforms.

The major thrust in improving carbon fibres for

composites comes from the immediate requirement to

simplify the processes thus enabling the reduction in

processing costs. Several emerging processes like

weaving, knitting and braiding will now play a crucial role

in taking the carbon fibres to the more cost-sensitive

automotive and industrial application markets.

In India also, Kemrock Imports and Exports Ltd,

Vadodara has put up a PAN based carbon fibre plant

based on the technology developed by CSIR-NAL with an

annual capacity of 400 tonnes.

Trends in the usage of carbon fibres in the recent years

indicate a major shift in the usage pattern of carbon fibres

across various industries. Early carbon fibre usage was

dominated by strategic and high performance

applications while the current usage of carbon fibres are

in the industrial applications like sports goods, Thermal

Management systems, Transportation systems (Trains &

Cars), Energy systems (Wind mill blades) and Oil &

Natural Gas systems (Piping and other applications).

Robust growth for carbon fibres will prevail in view of such

enlarged scope of their utilization and scenario in India

cannot be very different.

Carbon Fibres Used in Composites

Conclusion

�

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Ability to mould large complex shapes - reducing

part count and assembly time

Ability to maintain dimensional stability over a

moderate temperature range

The material systems for most aerospace structural

composites are predominantly based on carbon fibres

with epoxy matrix resins, to a smaller extent with matrix

resins like phenolics, polyesters and polyamides.

Among the most popular systems are the epoxy-based

formulations which cure either at 120°C or 177°C.

Aircraft industry prefers to use intermediate products

like prepregs as raw materials for the autoclave

moulding process. Currently, carbon fibre prepregs are

available both as unidirectional tapes (continuous

carbon fibre tows embedded in partially cured matrix

polymric resin) and as bidirectional fabrics

(Bidirectional woven carbon fabric embedded in

partially cured matrix polymeric resin). Availability of

the prepregs in these forms is a key element in the

usage of carbon fibre composites for aircraft use.

Another process, filament winding, is popular with shell

like components such as rocket motor casings for launch

Large scale use of composites in LCA–TEJAS has been

motivated primarily by such considerations. Composite

content of LCA-TEJAS airframe is at 45% by weight of

the basic airframe and about 90% of the

aerodynamically wetted surface. Some of the typical

constructions with carbon fibre composite components

of LCA–TEJAS are shown in Fig. 1.

Composites Used in Aircraft Industry

Fig.1 - Typical Carbon Composite Structures on LCA TEJAS:

(a) Wing Substructure, (b) Vertical Tail-Torque Box,

(c) Dividing Wall and (d) Circular Duct Top

(a)

(d)

41

Transport Textiles

(b)

allowing the plant to have them available at will as a

function of the absorption - release cycles. In turn, they

optimize plant growth with minimal losses of water and

nutrients through leaching and evaporation. They are

best used in a range of specialized agro-applications such

as in natural green roofing, vertical green walls,

landscaping, horticulture, drought resisting, mining, arid

land cultivation, high altitude cultivation and organized

agriculture.

SAF structure consists of a set of polymeric chains that

are parallel to each other and regularly linked by cross-

linking agents, thus forming a network. When water

comes into contact with one of these chains, it rapidly

migrates into the interior of the polymer network where it

gets stored. As the soil dries out, the polymer releases the

absorbed water into the soil (See Fig. 1).

The reservoir of water and nutrients ensures growth and

health of plants by delivering the water and nutrients as

required to the plant and lower root systems. AgroSAF

can be tailored to fit a wide range of requirements and so

it can be used either directly with nutrients and seed on

the soil surface or in a layered structure below the soil

surface depending on the application.

These superabsorbent textiles allow the development of

one of the lightest multilayered superabsorbent structure

for its range of specialized applications.

Modern green roofs, which are made

of a system of manufactured layers

deliberately placed over roofs to

support growing medium and

vegetation, are a relatively new but

fast growing concept in urban areas

How AgroSAF Works?

Some Specialized Agro- Applications

™

®

™

Natural Green Roofs

Introduction

AgroSAF : Superabsorbent Agro Textiles

Among all the nature's gifts involved in man-made

activities, water is certainly one of the most precious.

India's 690 bcm of total utilizable surface water has to

sustain 16% of the world's population and quite

alarmingly we would consume 29.17 bcm/yr by 2025.

Moreover due to rapid urbanization, there is a multi-fold

increase in water and energy consumption. Hence, there

is an urgent necessity to effectively utilize water

alongwith making our environment greener. Keeping this

environmental role into consideration and utilizing the

water absorption and retention properties of

Superabsorbent Fibre (SAF ), Technical absorbents has

developed AgroSAF range of superabsorbent

agricultural textile products.

SAF is a partially neutralized cross linked sodium

polyacrylate superabsorbent fibre, manufactured via a

patented dry spinning technology. Because of its unique

chemistry, 1 gram of SAF can absorb 120-200 grams of

water (grade specific) and hold the same against gravity

and compression. These fibres can be blended with other

natural/synthetic fibres to form superabsorbent textiles.

range of superabsorbent textiles are specially

made agro textile that can absorb and retain large

quantities of water and nutrients when placed into the

soil or any other growing media; thus providing water

reservoir functionality and ensuring controlled

availability of water for plants and seeds.

Superabsorbent Agro textiles have the property of easily

releasing the absorbed water and nutrients, thereby

®

™

®

®

™

AgroSAF™

AgroSAF™: TAL's Specialized

Superabsorbent Agro TextilesTechnical Absorbents, U.K.

A healthy crop, lush green surrounding and a splendid growth of flowers – that is what

agriculturists, landscapers and gardeners like to see. To achieve these kinds of results, Technical

Absorbents, UK has launched AgroSAF superabsorbent agrotextiles.™

Fig. 1: Absorption Phenomenon of SAF®

AgroSAF : Superabsorbent Agro Textiles™

Irrigation frequency and water requirements may be

reduced by 50%

Limits losses of water and nutrient due to leaching

Reduces evaporation from the soil

Water and nutrients are continuously available

in the root zone for optimal absorption by plants

Increases the water reserves of soil for several years

Protects environment against drought, erosion,

desertification and water-pollution

Allows land-cultivation under extreme soil and climate

conditions

Absorbs and retains water under gravity and compression

Repulsion betweennegative charges

expands polymer coils

Hydrophillicpolymer chains

The dissociated sodiumcarboxylate groups increaseosmotic pressure in the gel.

Electrical neutrality is maintainedbecause sodium ionsare trapped in the gel

Cross-links betweenchains prevent

‘infinite’ swelling

Agro Textiles

42Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

AgroSAF : Green roof benefits include™

Reducing the urban heat island effect (UHI)

Sustaining biodiversity

Increasing sound and thermal insulation performance

Increasing aesthetics, public relations and recreationalgreen space

Decreasing storm water runoff

Improving air quality and reducing airborne particulates

Very light weight green roofing structure

...contd

which suffer from the reduction

of land and rising number of

buildings. Today, it is estimated

that about 10% of all German

roofs have been “greened”.

Green roofs are common in Europe and are also

becoming increasingly popular

in the United States. Michigan

S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y h a s

demonstrated through a first of

its kind study to examine the

ability of green roofs to affect

climate change and have

concluded that green roofs could combat global

warming. Gketer & Rowe

f o u n d t h a t r e p l a c i n g

traditional materials with

green plants housing in an

urban area with a population

of about one million, would be

enough to reduce the carbon

dioxide emitted from 10,000

cars type 4x4, size medium. They found that planting the

roof of an urban area, on one million residents could

withhold more than 55,000 tons of coal. According to

studies by Livingroofs.org, the area under the green roof

reduces energy consumption by over 25%. University of

Ioannina in a scientific study found 40% reduction in

cooling costs in an office building in Athens.

Green roofs decrease the total amount of runoff and slow

the rate of runoff from the roof. It has been found that

they can retain up to 75% of rainwater, gradually

releasing it back into the atmosphere via condensation

and transpiration. Combating the urban heat island

effect is another reason for creating a green roof.

Traditional building materials soak up the sun's radiation

and re-emit it as heat, making cities at least 4 degrees

Celsius (7 °F) hotter than surrounding areas.

A is a vegetative wall, either free-standing or

part of a building that is partially or completely covered

with vegetation and, in some cases, soil or an inorganic

growing medium. Studies have shown that a very light

weight AgroSAF fabric can retain significant amount of

water in vertical condition and allows the growth of

plants even without soil substrate (See Fig. 2). Also, the

strength of these fabrics in vertical condition is higher

than other fabrics. Professor E. Rogdakis has showed

™

Vertical Green Walls

green wall

that the temperature

d i f f e r ence a r i s i ng

between the planted

and non planted surface

reaches 18 degrees

Celsius. The same study

showed that energy

savings on the rooftop

of the building was upto

50% that also saved

E u r o s f r o m

c o n s u m p t i o n o f

electricity and oil within a year. In a similar study by the

National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the total

thermal energy that entered the building, was reduced by

85% while the thermal energy that escaped from the

building at night was reduced by 70%. The same survey

showed that it substantially reduces the effects of heat

wave days in the summer because the plants throw their

shade and provide insulation in

the building. Also, the daily

variation in temperature

decreased from 46°C with

positive consequences for the

life of the building and reduced

the stresses from thermal

contraction and expansion.

Apart from the above mentioned applications,

finds immense potential in greening the earth through

other specialized applications like:

The

mining process drastically alters the physical and

biological nature of the mined area causing huge

degradation of land, massive subsidence of strata,

replacing existing ecosystem with undesirable waste

materials in the form of mine spoil dumps and

disturbance of water table causing severe ecological

imbalance. AgroSAF helps in reclamation of this

degraded land by reforming and regrading the

wasteland and growing top soil to bring the original

topography and permanent self sustaining vegetation.

These fabrics grow plants with minimal amount of

water and also reduce

irrigation frequency by about

50%. Thereby, forming a

suitable temporary substrate

for plant growth which can be

further developed in to

permanent vegetation.

Other Applications

AgroSAF

Green covering for mines and waste lands:

™

�

™

Fig. 2: Comparision of Vertical

Absorbency of SAF®

Agro Textiles

43Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

�

�

Arid land cultivation:

High altitude plantations and slope farming etc.

The ability of AgroSAF to

retain large amounts of water and release it slowly to

the plants under need has proved to be a important

property for its application in arid land cultivation. This

ensures a healthy growth of plants with minimal

consumptionofwater.

:

In hilly terrains, the retention of water is a severe

constraint for the plant growers. AgroSAF absorbs

water in angular positions which makes it suitable for

slope farming and high land cultivation. Another

advantage offered is that the fabric retains its strength

in angular conditions preventing erosion of soil with

simultaneous absorption of water.

™

™

Conclusion

Thus we can say that there is a huge untapped potential

to conserve and effectively utilize water for our

environmental benefits and fortunately, India is

witnessing a revolutionary phase in the horticultural and

agricultural sectors with both small and large companies

investing heavily in the latest technologies. In March the

Ministry and Agriculture industry sponsored Inter-Horti

Expo which became the focus for the industry with both

domestic and international exhibitors vying for a piece of

the action and displaying their latest products. UK-based

Technical Absorbents (TAL) was represented by its

Indian agent Business Co-ordination House (BCH) at the

event as it promoted its Super Absorbent Fibre (SAF )

technology.

explains Business Development

Manager Dave Hill,

®

“In addition to demonstrating how the innovative

technology works,”

“BCH displayed samples of AgroSAF

fabrics and offered advice on the development of new

products that can be manufactured to meet specific

customer requirements.”

“The possibilities for development are endless. TAL has

already developed fabric technologies for large areas of

lawn and turf, hanging baskets, commercial crops and

even vertical gardens (roofs and walls). SAF is such a

versatile technology, that it is always exciting to look at

new possibilities for its integration.”

™

®

...contd

SAF Siversity Highlighted

at Expos

TM

The versatility of Super Absorbent Fibre (SAF ) and the

extent of opportunity for its application have been

further highlighted in the first quarter of 2012.

Manufacturer of SAF – Technical Absorbents (TAL) –

has exhibited at three exhibitions so far this year, each

targeted at a different market sector.

WETEX (13-15 March) is a water management and

energy exhibition which was held at the World Trade

Center in Dubai. It was the perfect event for TAL to

officially launch its technology to the UAE market for

the first time.

GeoSAF (the product brand of SAF for the geotextiles

market) and AgroSAF (the product brand of SAF for

the agrotextiles market) were the main focus for TAL

during the exhibition, due to the importance of effective

water management in such hot climates. However,

KoolSAF (the product brand of SAF for the coolant

apparel markets) was also of interest to those involved in

the country's fire fighting industry.

WFC (17-19 April) was hosted by the Austrian Chemical

Society Gesellschaft Österreichischer Chemiker

(GÖCH) and is the first filtration-focused event that TAL

has attended as an exhibitor.

The filtration media market is of growing interest to

TAL. FilSAF (the product brand of SAF for the

Filtration market) is integrated within enhanced filter

media fabrics that are designed for the removal of

water and particulates from aviation fuel, automotive

diesel and a wide range of oils. Such fabrics help reduce

problems associated with water contamination,

resulting in reduced machine wear and improved

fuel/oil performance. WFC allowed the company to

demonstrate the capabilities of its technology within

this sector and meet with many large filtration

companies under the one roof.

CIDPEX (18-20 April) was organized by China National

Household Paper Industry Association. It was the perfect

platform for TAL to promote its SAF fibre and fabric

technologies to a captive audience looking for new

products andpotential innovation/development ideas.

HyiSAF (the product brand of SAF for the Hygiene

market) is the key component for a wide range of soft

discreet and comfortable nonwoven cores that provide

superior fluid absorption – and low re-wet performance –

with application in ultra-thin femme-hygiene, diaper and

incontinence products. The technology is already used in

a range of end products and CIDPEX attracted further

interest for its integrationwithin newproduct lines.

TM

TM

TM TM

TM TM

TM TM

TM TM

TM

TM TM

WETEX

WFC

CIDPEX

Agro Textiles

45Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

New Technological Horizons & Environmental Awareness

GDM owes a lot of its success to its dedication to continuous product development. In 2011 GDM launched two new

platforms: Start and DISCovery. The former was designed to meet the needs and expectation of developing

countries such as China, India and Africa and could be described as a 'user-friendly' line. Start BT model for baby

diapers market is more of a technological platform rather than a machine model', since different machines

configurations can be tailored according to specific market needs.

DISCovery, on the other hand, is targeted more towards developed countries that already have long-term

experience in this industry. The process of this platform is based on disc rotation concept. The aim of this technology

is to guarantee high quality end products along with the reduction of production costs. The DISCovery platform is

able to optimize processes and at the same time reduce expenses.

GDM Innovation Technology : The “Core Essence”

One of the most important technological innovations introduce by GDM is the thin core

construction made using the “Core process (patent pending).

The Core essence process allow to:

1. Reduce the quantity of Fluff-Pulp;

2. Optimize and enhance the utilization of SAP;

3. Reduce the “Core cost” thus the “Baby Diaper” cost;

4. Reduce the Baby Diaper thickness thus the “supply-chain cost”;

5. Produce thin product

In addition the Thin product realized with the “Core process drives the diaper to a reduction of

cost in terms of:

Raw Materials (Fluff-Pulp);

Packaging costs (up to 40%):

- Nylon bags dimension,

- Carton Boxes dimensions,

- Quantity of bags per pallet/truck;

Logistics costs reduction (up to 40 %):

- Pieces per equal volume increased

- Ware-house reduced space per equal volume,

- Increased number of pieces transported per equal volume

- Reduced retailer shelf space per equal amount.

�

�

�

For further information of GDM products and services, send an email to:

26010 Offanengo (Cr) Italy via circonvallazione sud – ph. +39 0373 247011 fax +39 0373 780686 – web:

Essence”

Essence”

infogdm@gdm-spa.it

www.gdm-spa.com

Intermittent SAP Area

Members’ Column

46Jan - Jun 2012

contd...

...contd

The year 2011 that saw the 100 anniversary of the Reifenhäuser group is also its most successful business year of

all time. Record results achieved in 2010/2011 both in terms of order income and turnover were perhaps the best

anniversary gift the manufacturer of machinery and equipment could give himself.

Compared with the previous record year in the company's history, sales increased by twelve percent. An even more

significant growth could be recorded for orders obtained in 2010/2011: With more than 50 percent it exceeds the

record figures achieved in the past. There have been high double-digit growth rates for almost all product groups of

the Reifenhäuser group. These are pleasing results, especially after the crisis year 2008/2009 that was difficult for

Reifenhäuser and the whole machine construction industry. Ulrich Reifenhäuser, member of the Reifenhäuser

management board says: “We wanted to emerge from the crisis stronger than before and we undoubtedly have

accomplished this goal. The Reifenhäuser group's flexibility to respond to special market situations has proven very

successful in these dynamic times thanks to the strong focus of our independent companies on product orientation.

The record results show that we have taken the right decisions.”

th

Success in its Anniversary Year: Reifenhäuser Closes

Business Year 2010/2011 with Record Results

See you at ANEX 2012

Visit us at Booth F3

13-15 June 2012

Kintex, Seoul, Korea

Teijin Limited announced today that its mass production technologies for carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP)

have been selected by this year's ICIS Innovation Awards as the overall winner, as well as the recipient of the Best

Product Innovation award.

“The ICIS Innovation Awards continue to highlight the best the chemical industry has to offer in the way of

innovation and solutions to society's needs. This year, there was a significant emphasis on technologies designed to

reduce and replace fossil fuel usage and cut carbon emissions. Indeed, most entries focused on helping the

environment and maintaining the sustainability of the chemical industry, while at the same time helping customers

and driving bottom line growth. Teijin's entry was no exception," said John Baker, global editor at ICIS, who

manages the ICIS Innovation Awards.

The award recognizes Teijin's innovative technologies, which significantly reduce the cycle time required for

molding automotive body structures to under a minute, as a significant milestone and a big step towards the use of

carbon fiber in the mass production of automobiles and other applications.

Teijin's new technologies include intermediate materials made of thermoplastic resin instead of conventional

thermosetting resin for molding CFRP, and methods for welding thermoplastic CFRP parts together and for bonding

CFRP with other materials such as steel. Increasingly strict environmental standards and regulations in the

automotive industry have intensified the need to reduce vehicle weights through the use of lightweight materials,

such as CFRP, for components conventionally made from high-tension steel or aluminum.

In order for CFRP to be used in mass-produced vehicles, the manufacturing of CFRP must fit within a cycle time of

less than a minute, and the cost, energy consumption as well as CO emissions associated with the whole process

need to be reduced. The Teijin Group, which has positioned automobiles and aircraft as one of its key growth

markets, has been accelerating the development of new technology solutions, through collaboration between the

Teijin Composites Innovation Center and Toho Tenax Co., Ltd., the world's second largest carbon fiber producer.

2

Teijin's CFRP Technologies Win Top ICIS Innovation Award

See you at ANEX 2012

Visit us at Booth G35+G39

13-15 June 2012

Kintex, Seoul, Korea

Members’ Column

47Jan - Jun 2012

...contd

BCH AT

ANEX 2012

BCH AT

ANEX 2012

13 - 15 JUNE 2012

Kintex, Seoul, Korea

Visit us at Booth J16

13 - 15 JUNE 2012

Kintex, Seoul, Korea

Visit us at Booth J16

BCH Info

48Jan - Jun 2012