Expansions: Mitsui Chemicals to expand production of meltblown nonwovens in Japan; Nexam Chemical investing in additives line in Sweden

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) intends to expand its production facilities for meltblown nonwovens at its wholly owned subsidiary Sunrex Industry Co. The move comes as an effort to respond to growing demand for industrial-use meltblown nonwovens, which will see the Mitsui Chemicals Group’s overall production capacity for meltblown nonwovens increase by 30%.

As part of its new Vision 2030 Long-Term Business Plan, Mitsui Chemicals will be positioning nonwovens as a growth business under Life & Healthcare Solutions in the revised portfolio. Mitsui Chemicals is therefore looking to supply nonwovens not only as sanitary materials for the likes of disposable diapers but also as industrial materials for a variety of applications.

Products targeted toward this end will include Tafnel, which can be used as an oil-adsorbing material, a structural material for automotive seats and a civil engineering material; Syntex, a structural material for filters and masks; and other such high-quality nonwovens. In particular, Syntex nano – a brand consisting of superfine fibres – is expected to meet with use in products such as highly advanced precision filters.

The company says it plans to further bolster and grow its nonwovens business going forward, with the newly announced facility expansion coming as one such move.

In other news, Sweden’s Nexam Chemical is investing SEK20 million in a new production line. The investment at the company's facility in Lomma, Skåne, will increase production capacity and improve profitability in the long run. In the first instance, the new line will be for the manufacture of additives for several different market segments and polymer areas. In addition, there is great potential in using the capacity to further increase the pace on the recycling side.

The new machine line, which will be an integral part of the existing production system, is planned to be operational during the end of the current year.

“Our production increases as our sales increase, which is why we are now investing in increased and improved own production capacity. The new production line will open up opportunities for us to manufacture increasingly complex products that can make us even more attractive to more and more customers”, says Johan Arvidsson, Nexam Chemical.

“We have strong growth, and it is judged to last. With the investment, we will also become less dependent on external capacity while improving the ability to develop even more advanced solutions for our customers. Something that strengthens the relationship with the customer and improves our profitability over time”, adds Arvidsson.

(PRA)

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