300 delegates registered for this, the first EDANA
conference in the Middle East , and its obvious success suggests it will become
a regular feature of the nonwoven year. Introducing the session, Pierre Wiertz
EDANA's General Manager said the conference was intended to provide a focus to
promote and support the development of nonwovens in the Middle East , a region
he expected to become the fastest growing nonwoven production region. United
Arab Emirates for example represented a fruitful fusion between Eastern and
Western cultures: business is relatively easy, with easy financing and European
standards of respect for intellectual property.
The MENA Region
Mahdy Katbe of Unicharm Gulf Hygienic
Industries ( Saudi Arabia ) characterised MENA as the crescent of
17 countries stretching from Morocco to Iraq including Sudan and the Arabian
peninsula (GCC), but excluding Israel . Here lived 275 million people producing
6 million babies every year, a birth rate of 21.8 per 1000 compared with 10.2
per 1000 in the US , EU and Japan combined. Saudi Arabia has a population of 27
million including 5.6 million expatriates. 45% of the population is under 15. It
controls 21% of the known oil reserves and at $50/barrel these known reserves
will yield $38.5 trillion to OPEC, $24 trillion to the GCC States, of which
Saudi Arabia will get $13 trillion. This oil boom will translate into massive
investment ( e.g. mega-infrastructure projects) and a personal spending boom.
The prospects for personal hygiene products, geotextiles, and their raw
materials are unparalleled.
Nonwovens in Infrastructure Projects in Dubai
Jan Helden of Fibertex ( Denmark )
claimed their experience in large scale coastal protection
projects in Denmark , and the construction of Hong Kong airport, had positioned
them well to take advantage of major coastline extensions now occurring in Dubai
. Design of a geosynthetic had to take account of water depth, wave height, the
type of rocks to be dropped onto it, and the height from which they were
dropped. They had to resist puncture, be extensible enough to conform to
irregular seabeds and be sufficiently porous to retain fines while allowing the
free flow of water. Rocks could weigh up to 3 tonnes each in areas where wave
heights of 3 metres were normal. One of these rocks dropped from a height of 4
metres required a geotextile with a 12,000 newton puncture resistance. The
Jumeirah Palm, commenced in 2001, is protected by a 12 km breakwater 200 metres
wide and comprises 17 “fronds” each 2 km long and 75 metres wide. Geotextiles
(Fibertex F-650M) were used in the breakwater to separate the rock base from the
sand “beach”. They were also used in road construction on each of the fronds
(Fibertex F-2B UV – 140 gsm) , for landscaping interchanges (Fibertex F-3S – 230
gsm) and for drainage and storm water sewers (Fibertex F-300 – 180gsm). Another
development commenced in 2003, the Jebel Ali Palm Island , is 50% larger than
the Jumeirah Palm.
Fibertex G-100 UV is used in flat roofs in Dubai to separate the drainage layer (gravel) from the insulation and the waterproof membrane and protects against abrasion and perforation.
Controlled Permeability Formwork uses Fibertex Formtex® CPF liner between the wet concrete and the mould to allow surplus water and any trapped air to escape from the vertical surfaces of the concrete. This was specified for all exposed concrete surfaces in Dubai as it doubles the life of the concrete in aggressive environments (e.g. hot and salty air).
Fibertex G-100 UV is used in flat roofs in Dubai to separate the drainage layer (gravel) from the insulation and the waterproof membrane and protects against abrasion and perforation.
Controlled Permeability Formwork uses Fibertex Formtex® CPF liner between the wet concrete and the mould to allow surplus water and any trapped air to escape from the vertical surfaces of the concrete. This was specified for all exposed concrete surfaces in Dubai as it doubles the life of the concrete in aggressive environments (e.g. hot and salty air).
Turkish Nonwovens Market
Yasemin Buyukeren of Hayat Temizlik Saglik
Urunleri SA ( Turkey ) reviewed the development of the Turkish
nonwovens industry and provided a comprehensive breakdown of nonwovens usage:
• Turkey 's first nonwoven line made air-laid latex
bonded nonwovens for automotive use – presumably long-fibre airlay using
something like a Rando-Webber.
• Card-crosslappers fed needlepunchers on the lines
installed during the 80's and 90's
• Thermal bonded production was introduced during the
'90's
• Spunlace, spunbond and meltblown lines were installed
during the late '90's commencing with Mogul. Ritas and Kurt Kumas installed pure
spunbond.
• Hassan Group's thermobond line (2003) is still the
highest capacity card line in the world.
• Gulsan commenced SMS production in 2004 and added a
second spunbond line in 2005, followed by two meltblown lines.
• Bayteks ( Gaziantep ) started a proprietary
technology spunbond line in May 2006
• Salteks in Istanbul moved into spunlace in 2001. AS
Nonwovens (Akinal) followed, with new investment in 2005 for a second bigger
line.
• Ribatek Tekstil invested in a cross-lay spunlace line
in 2005 which was commercialised a few months ago.
• Estimated nonwoven capacity in Turkey is now 400,000
tonnes, up from 300,000 in 2005 and 150,000 in 2003.
• The leading producers in 2006 were:
• Hassan Group with 39,000 tonnes of thermal, latex and
needled card webs for coverstock, backsheet, wipes, furnishings and geotextiles.
• Gulsan with 29,000 tonnes of SSS and SMMS for hygiene
components.
• Milkay with 25,000 tonnes of needlefelts for
furnishings and civil engineering.
• Mogul with 21,000 tonnes of spunbond and meltblow for
filters, medical and home furnishings
• Salteks with 17,000 tonnes of carded thermalbond and
meltblow for wipes and numerous durable applications.
• The other major producers were listed as AS Nonwoven,
Vateks, Bayteks, Kurt Kumas, Akelyaf, Elsan, Ribatek and Almina.
• 31% of Turkish nonwoven production goes into
garments, 19% to hygiene, 15% into automotive and 11% into geotextiles.
• 21,000 tonnes is consumed in baby diapers
, and a further 12,000 tonnes in wipes. This is insufficient for
the Turkish hygiene market which imports about 25% of its needs, mainly from
Belgium , Germany and Finland .
• Current penetration of disposables in Turkish
diapering is 55%. There are 3.7 million babies, this figure growing at 2% per
year.
• The leading diaper producers are P&G with
”Prima”, Hayat with ”Molfix” and ”Bebem”, Astel (Ontex) with ”Canbebe” and
Ovisan Kimberly with ”Huggies” and ”Pedo”.
• 21 million women use femcare
products. 1.2 billion pads (48% penetration) and 380 million
pantyliners (7.5% penetration) are sold annually. The leading producers are
P&G (”Orkid” pads, ”Alldays” and ”Discreet” pantyliners.) Hayat (”Molyped”
and ”Joly”) and Astel (Ontex - ”Canleydi”)
• Tampons and adult incontinence
products are almost non-existent in Turkey at present.
• Wet wipe penetration was
said to be 30-40% with the baby wipe sector declining and personal care wipes
rising.
Gown and Drape Fabrics
Samir Nassif of Saudi Arabian Advanced
Fabrics ( Saudi Arabia ) replaced Ian Disley to give a paper
prepared jointly with Ahlstrom on nonwovens in operating theatres. Nonwovens are
technically superior to woven textiles which don't meet the latest microbial
penetration standards, ie. European Norm 13795 and Association for the
Advancement of Medical Instrumentation PB70:2003. They are virtually lint free
and because they are single-use their sterility and barrier properties are
consistently high. Within nonwovens, SMS with its meltblown microfiber layer
gives a better barrier performance than either hydroentangled pulp/PET or pure
spunbond. Nevertheless, while the US now uses mainly SMS in theatres, Europe is
mainly on hydroentangled and the Middle East is still 85-90% wovens. Conversion
of this to SMS is the motivating opportunity behind the SAAF
investment.
AAMI PB70:2003 has 4 levels of barrier performance for minimal, low, moderate and high levels of exposure to risk. For Level 1 – minimal risk, wet laid or spunlace nonwovens are adequate. At Level 2 - low risk, spunlace or lightweight SMS are acceptable. For Level 3 – moderate risk, medium to heavyweight SMS is needed e.g. SAAF's Medalon™, and for Level 4 – high risk, nonwoven/film composites or Ahlstrom's Breathable Viral Barrier are required. SAAF's Medalon™ Plus would also work.
In passing, Mr Nassif noted that globally, PP is the lowest cost polymer ($1.3/Kg) growing at 5-6% pa through 2008. 16% of the polymer produced will be used in nonwovens. Disposable fabrics are growing at the same rate and sales will reach $13.3 billion in 2007. The Middle East economies are booming (5.4% GDP Growth in 2006) and the demographics are right for increased use of disposables.
AAMI PB70:2003 has 4 levels of barrier performance for minimal, low, moderate and high levels of exposure to risk. For Level 1 – minimal risk, wet laid or spunlace nonwovens are adequate. At Level 2 - low risk, spunlace or lightweight SMS are acceptable. For Level 3 – moderate risk, medium to heavyweight SMS is needed e.g. SAAF's Medalon™, and for Level 4 – high risk, nonwoven/film composites or Ahlstrom's Breathable Viral Barrier are required. SAAF's Medalon™ Plus would also work.
In passing, Mr Nassif noted that globally, PP is the lowest cost polymer ($1.3/Kg) growing at 5-6% pa through 2008. 16% of the polymer produced will be used in nonwovens. Disposable fabrics are growing at the same rate and sales will reach $13.3 billion in 2007. The Middle East economies are booming (5.4% GDP Growth in 2006) and the demographics are right for increased use of disposables.
Nonwovens in Personal Protection
Amr El-Moniem of Dupont Nonwovens ( Egypt )
promoted the Dupont range of protective clothing and positioned it
against the 3 classes of required protection:
• minor being for instance foul weather clothing
• moderate being high visibility clothing.
• major, and in this category suits were classed in 6
different categories, from 1 (gas tight) to 6 (limited protection).
He also ran through the test methods used to categorise
them. His paper was not on the CD ROM.
Nonwovens and Polyester: The Indian Perspective
Gunjan Sharma of Reliance ( India )
an industrial company with sales of $20billion and the world's
largest producer of polyester with a 2 million tonne capacity, presented an
Indian fiber-makers view of nonwovens. Global nonwovens were growing at 7% per
annum and their share of global fiber consumption would increase from 8% now to
15% by 2012. By comparision conventional textiles were growing at 3%. Half of
world nonwoven production is now made in 5 countries, USA (20%), Japan (8.5%),
Germany (7%), Canada (7%) and Italy (6.2%), but most of the growth is in
Asia-Pacific (15% p.a.), the Middle East (12% p.a.), and Latin America (7.5%
p.a.).
Describing India as the land of opportunities, Mr Sharma noted that of the 1 billion population, 310 million were middle class, there were 120 million working in the cities, and 150 million teenagers. GDP was growing at 8% p.a., but the per-capita use of fibers was only 40% of the global average (and about 10% of the USA 's). Polyester was mainly used in apparel (93%) compared with a world average of 52% and a Chinese apparel usage of 60%. In the pyramid of human needs, nonwovens were non-essentials, but as the wealth of the nation increased, food, clothing and housing needs would soon be met, and at the next level (hygiene, healthcare and transport) nonwovens would be essential. At present, nonwoven penetration of these sectors was negligible: where the USA spent $12.4 billion (2004) on personal hygiene nonwovens, India spent $3.3 million.
The diaper opportunity was gigantic, estimated at 93 billion per year, there being more babies of diapering age in India than China . P&G, K-C and J&J were the only players and were currently importing economy diapers from SE Asia . Wipes sales in India were only $2 million. Of the 200,000 tonne per year geotextile market, the USA had 55% and China 20%. India only had 1% and this was set to increase dramatically as infrastructure improvement gathered pace. Here polyester was the key fiber and India had the complete polyester production chain in place (excluding nonwovens) unlike China which had to import oil.
Describing India as the land of opportunities, Mr Sharma noted that of the 1 billion population, 310 million were middle class, there were 120 million working in the cities, and 150 million teenagers. GDP was growing at 8% p.a., but the per-capita use of fibers was only 40% of the global average (and about 10% of the USA 's). Polyester was mainly used in apparel (93%) compared with a world average of 52% and a Chinese apparel usage of 60%. In the pyramid of human needs, nonwovens were non-essentials, but as the wealth of the nation increased, food, clothing and housing needs would soon be met, and at the next level (hygiene, healthcare and transport) nonwovens would be essential. At present, nonwoven penetration of these sectors was negligible: where the USA spent $12.4 billion (2004) on personal hygiene nonwovens, India spent $3.3 million.
The diaper opportunity was gigantic, estimated at 93 billion per year, there being more babies of diapering age in India than China . P&G, K-C and J&J were the only players and were currently importing economy diapers from SE Asia . Wipes sales in India were only $2 million. Of the 200,000 tonne per year geotextile market, the USA had 55% and China 20%. India only had 1% and this was set to increase dramatically as infrastructure improvement gathered pace. Here polyester was the key fiber and India had the complete polyester production chain in place (excluding nonwovens) unlike China which had to import oil.
So, Reliance saw an opportunity of extending their
totally vertical polyester production to include nonwovens as well as textiles.
They have 200 R&D staff with a dedicated nonwovens R&D team, and unlike
China have respect for intellectual property. They intend to cater for all
nonwoven requirements in India , and are studying a move into polyester
spunbonds. The Indian government looks prepared to support the development of a
nonwovens industry, especially for technical, industrial and agricultural
applications.
Mr Sharma didn't say it, but he certainly left the
impression that Reliance is looking for partners to help open up the nonwoven
sector. Asked specifically about the plan to move into polyester spunbond and
converted products production he said this had been studied but no decision had
been taken. Asked whether they would also produce polypropylene spunbond in
future, they do produce the polymer but have no plans to move into PP nonwovens.
Indian Market for wipes and medical
Shishir Jaipuria of Ginni Filaments ( India
) also described India as a land of unique opportunities, being
the world's 4 th largest economy ($3.7 trillion GDP) with the world's second
fastest GDP growth rate (8.9%). By 2011 the population will be 1.2 billion,
growing at 1.4% per year with 50% being in the middle class. 36% were in the
high income group and now demanding premium quality hygiene products. Organised
retailing (super- and hyper-markets and Metros) is booming with a $25 billion
investment expected to occur over the next 5 years taking its share from 3% to
14%, and its turnover to $427 billion.
Textile industry output is set to grow from $53 bn to
£85 bn between 2006 and 2010 and the governments Technology Upgrade Fund is
improving the investment climate. Technical Textiles worth $7 bn will be used in
India in 2007-08, 5% of these being medical. Disposable wipes are now a $4.5
million market, the low penetration being due to the high price of imports, a
lack of awareness of their benefits, and uncertain availability. The sector is
however growing at 20% per annum, and Ginni's new hydroentanglement line, the
first in India , is now starting up with this market in its sights.
Healthcare in India is a $17bn business and growing at
17% per year due to increasing middle-class spending and increasing medical
tourism. Operations in India cost far less than in developed countries: they
have half a million doctors and train 180,000 new ones every year. (”More
doctors in India than patients in Saudi Arabia ”) Disposables have almost fully
replaced woven protective clothing in wards, but in the operating rooms, woven
drapes and gowns still predominate. Here standards need to be developed and
suitable fabrics must be produced locally. Laundering is very cheap in India and
the perfomance benefits of disposables needs to be quantified. Wound care, a
$375m market growing at 15% per annum is mainly woven gauze and bandages.
Nonwovens of the right quality remain to be produced. Here again the new Ginni
Filaments spunlace line is expected to open up the market. It has a capacity of
12,000 tonnes, is capable of using polyester, viscose and cotton, 100% or in
blends. The plant will also be equipped to laminate, coat, print and pack for
consumer and hospital uses.
Asked about how the demand for medical barrier fabrics
would be met Mr Jaipuia said that P&G and Ahlstrom were encouraging local
production.
Superabsorbent Technology Update
Michael Keup of Degussa ( Germany )
delivered a SAP 101 in some detail before discussing the tricky
problem of permeability-dependent absorption under pressure.
Permeability under load (PUL), saline flow conductivity
(SFC) or gel bed permeability (GBP) were the usual methods of assessing
permeability, but Mr Keup now favoured Time-Dependent Absorption against
Pressure (TAAP). In essence this was a gravimetric absorbency test with SAP put
directly on the porous plate and loaded with suitable weights. Uptake versus
time over an hour gave the capacity under load and the acquisition rate, the
latter being dependent on, but not a direct measure of, permeability.
In separate experiments, Degussa has shown that
acquisition time increases dramatically as the concentration of high-retention
SAP in blend with pulp rises above 50%. The fluid just wont penetrate the
swollen SAP and improving the acquisition distribution layer doesn't help. In
order to get acceptable times with 60-80% SAP, more permeability is required and
this is achieved by further crosslinking of the skin of the SXM material.
However permeability and capacity prove antagonistic, you can increase one but
only at the expense of the other.
Asked about residual monomer levels in SAP, Mr Keup said
that while acrylic acid might be harmful to mankind, no Degussa SAP shows any
negative side effects due to the traces of this chemical left in the product.
Acceptable limits of monomer were hard to define: 500ppm could well be OK and
even 1000ppm might be acceptable. It was hard to say what a safe level of the
monomer should be. How much SAP was now required? Global demand was 1.3 to 1.5
million tonnes, of which about 800,000 tonnes were used in diapers.
Testing Hygienic Absorbents.
Edgar Hermann of Hy-Tec Hygiene Technology
GmbH ( Germany ) listed the priorities for diaper performance as
expressed by 120 German mothers between 2006 and 2008(sic). They should be
leak-free, fit well, be friendly to the skin, keep baby dry, and contain odour.
Of less importance were lotions, colours or prints, and wetness indicators.
Development targets were improved absorbency, lower leakage, and better fit, and
the way forward involved thinner cores, stretchable side panels and better leg
cuffs.
For femcare, where absorbency was more than adequate,
improvements would arise from lateral leakage barriers, silky (less plastic)
funnel-effect topsheets, anatomical shapes and improved odour control.
Pantyliners would follow fashion and be co-ordinated with lingerie. Adult
incontinence users wanted safe, discrete, comfortable, odour controlling
products which were easy to put on and dispose of.
Hygiene product technical trends would favour ultra-thin
(fluffless) cores, breathable backsheets, silky-soft topsheets, improved shapes,
ecologically-sound materials, economical versions for emerging markets, and
pre-formed cores.
The Dodot (Arbora/Ausonia) diaper design would challenge
the Pampers design.
Medical Nonwovens
Krzystof Malowaniec of Paul Hartmann (
Germany ) pointed out that the medical nonwoven market was being
squeezed by demands for cost reduction without any compromise on quality. There
was therefore a need to redesign medical procedures to reduce personnel, capital
employed, materials consumed and complexity, per patient. One result of this was
the “Customised Procedure Tray” (CPT) which would reduce personnel costs by
allowing the preparation of all the materials needed for an operation outside
the hospital by specialist partners. These packs would reduce wastage and
post-operative infections and lead to shorter hospitalisations and reduced
material consumption.
But what about the ecological considerations from what
would inevitably be an increased use of disposables? Mr Malowaniec thought the
motto here should be “don't reuse, recycle”, and advocated a new waste treatment
technology which separated out all organics, and after careful blending
converted them to basic organic materials which could be reused as monomers or
fuel. This was not anaerobic biodegradation yielding methane, but a chemical
conversion yielding mainly propene and ethylene. So, the future of operating
theatre fabrics would be single-use, nonwovens-based, procedure packs tailored
to specific operations. These would, through recycling be ecologically sound and
economical without compromising medical performance.
Asked about the Polypropylene-to-Propene process he
advocated, Mr Malowaniec referred to waste-organic cracking technology used in
Germany towards the end of World War 2 when the Luftwaffe could not get aircraft
fuel. He felt that when the primary raw materials got too expensive, this route
would be rediscovered.
Roofing Substrates
Bertrand Claude Weiter of Johns-Manville Sales (
Germany ) put the Middle Eastern roofing membrane market at 270 million
square metres/annum, of which 22% is natural fiber and 78% synthetic or glass
based. This compared with Europe's 1.9 billion m 2 market (35% natural and 65%
synthetic or glass fibers); North America's 700 million m 2 (43% natural and 57%
synthetic or glass) and Asia 's 1.1 billion m 2 market (46% natural and 54%
synthetic or glass).
Traditional roofing felt was natural fiber (rag felt
which rotted when wet) coated with bitumen. Bitumen coated wet-laid glass,
developed in the ‘50's was brittle and easily punctured. Polyester nonwovens
reinforced with a glass scrim, or laminated to an aluminium film were better.
The polyester could be coated on both sides with bitumen and this could be
protected on one side with PE film or coated with a sand or talc anti-block
layer. Polyester spunbond was now specially designed for roofing and provided
the best strength, tear, elongation, puncture and rot resistance. Exceptional
dimensional stability could be achieved by incorporating glass yarns. The next
generation would yield flame retardancy and even higher stability (0.05%
shrinkage during 24 hours at 80 o C) by needlepunching a spunbond polyester into
a glass fibre nonwoven.
Asked how staple polyester nonwovens compared with
spunbond in roofing, Mr Weiter said they can be interchangeable if the staple
version is heavy enough to match the strength of spunbond. In the USA , staple
and spunbond share the market 50/50, while in Europe spunbond has a 60% share,
due to its predominance in the north, staple being favoured in the south. The
long term future of bitumen coating? Bitumen is the residue when petrochemicals
are extracted from oil. It's price recently rose from $100 to $300 per tonne and
there is now a risk that plastic membranes could take over.
Modern Management in the
Middle East
Hatem Otoum of Specialised Industries Co.
(Jordan) chose to steer clear of nonwovens to provide a summary of
Geert Hofstede's thinking on work-related values. His four dimensions of
national culture were:
- Individulalism/Collectivism
- Power-Distance index (there's a wide variation in power down the heirarchy when power-distance is high. Low power-distance means equality between managers and workers)
- Uncertainty Avoidance index (formal-inflexible organisations avoid uncertainty)
- Masculinity/Femininity (assertiveness versus concern for others)
- Latin American countries scored highest in Power-Distance, Scandinavia being at the low end of the scale. Arab countries were near the top. Greatest Uncertainty Avoidance was in Japan , France , Argentina and Spain , with Scandinavia being least. Arab countries were high on the list. Individulism was highest in Anglo-Saxon countries, lowest in Thailand and Indonesia . Arab countries were at the low end.
Masculinity was highest in Japan and lowest in Sweden ,
with Arab countries mid-range.
The combination of high Power-Distance and high Uncertainty Avoidance in Arab countries gives leaders virtually unlimited power and leads to rules and regulations which reinforce leadership and control. The low Individualism score suggest a collectivist culture where loyalty overrides other societal rules.
The combination of high Power-Distance and high Uncertainty Avoidance in Arab countries gives leaders virtually unlimited power and leads to rules and regulations which reinforce leadership and control. The low Individualism score suggest a collectivist culture where loyalty overrides other societal rules.
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