2009 International Top 40: waiting for recovery.

If there was one thing nearly every company in this year's top company report has in common it's, not surprisingly, that they have all faced difficulties during the past 12 months. If there's another thing they have in common, it is that they are optimistic not only that recovery is near but that they will be well prepared for growth when that day comes.

During 2008, most of the companies profiled reported growth, despite a serious slowdown beginning in the fourth quarter when the global economic crisis hit. These troubles have continued into 2009 for most, leading to staff reductions, line closures and other cost-savings measures. Even in this climate, however, the nonwovens industry continues to invest for the future. This investment might be in the form of a new production line--as is the case with companies like Union Industries and KNH Enterprises- -or in new partnerships like the one recently made between Fiberweb and Fitesa in North America or in new product development, which continues to be a focus for practically every company doing business in nonwovens today

As has been the case since NONWOVEN INDUSTRY started ranking nonwovens producers, Freudenberg Nonwovens was the world's largest producer of nonwovens this year, with sales surpassing $1.4 billion. This position could be challenged in the near term, however, as many of the German producer's core markets are under seige. Any of this year's other top five producers, DuPont, Kimberly-Clark, Ahlstrom or PGI, could easily rise to surpass Freudenberg by this time next year. This year's edition of the International Top 40 report features two brand new nonwovens producers, both of which are from Israel. Spuntech joins the ranking at number 38 with $86 million in sales last year, while Shalag Industries was tied with KNH and Foss Manufacturing for number 40 with $80 million in sales.

The 42 companies (there was a three-way tie for number 40) profiles in this issue are ranked in terms of their 2008 nonwovens sales (in U.S. dollars). Sales figures are taken from a variety of sources, public documents, company statements, industry estimates, and are only intended to be a guide. The real value of this report are the company profiles, which are taken from interviews with key nonwovens industry executives and provide key information about the largest players in the nonwovens industry. NONWOVENS INDUSTRY strives to make this report as comprehensive as possible. If you know of a company you think should be included in this ranking next year, please contact us at [e-mail]. As always, we appreciate your comments.

1

Freudenberg

Weinheim, Germany

www.freudenberg.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $1.45 billion

Key Personnel

Management board: Bruce Olson, president and CEO; Rene Wollerg, CFO; Thomas Reibelt, CTO.

Worldwide Divisions: Heino Freudenberg, managing director interlinings; Jorg Sievert and Andreas Kreuter, managing directors of filter (as of Jan 1, 2009: Managing Directors Freuden berg Filtration Technologies); Thomas Reibelt, managing director Spunlaid; Juan Charlos Borchardt, managing director Southern Hemisphere; Helmut Beck, managing director industrial Nonwovens

Plants

Weinheim, Germany; Neuenburg, Germany; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Greetland, U.K.; Swindon U.K.; Littleborough/UK; Colmar, France; Barcelona, Spain; St. Omero, Italy; Cape Town, South Africa; San Martin/Buenos Aires, Argentina; Jacarei, Brazil; Suzhou, China; Changchun, China; Nantong, China; Yang Mei Tao-Yuan, Taiwan; Tayuan, Taiwan; Durham, NC; Hopkinsville, KY; Pyungtaek, South Korea; Chennai, India

Processes

Drylaid staple fiber, wetlaid, spunbonded, meltblown, electrostatic spun microfiber, needlepunched, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, water entanglement

ISO Status

All locations are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified; locations serving the automotive industry are QS 9000 certified; 21 out of 23 plants are OSHAS 18001 certified

Brand Names

Vilene, Viledon, Vilmed, micronAir, Vlieseline, Vildona, Fliselina, Lutradur, Lutrasil, Evolon, Comfortemp, Vitech, Celestia, Soundtex

Major Markets

Apparel interlinings, filtration, medical, protective clothing, automotive interior, electrical insulation, electrical specialties, home furnishings, industrial wipes, hygiene, shoe components, coating substrates, carpet backings, landscape fabrics, geotextiles, agriculture, furniture and bedding and industrial nonwoven specialties

The global economic crisis is in reality just the latest, albeit very serious, challenge confronting the Nonwovens Industry, according to Freudenberg Nonwovens. Many segments of the industry had been experiencing significant pressure on operating margins since the 2006-2007 timeframe brought on by rising raw material and energy costs which, despite generally strong volume growth, were difficult to pass on in the form of higher pricing due to excess production capacity.

The collapse in the demand for nonwovens, which began during the second half of 2008 and greatly accelerated during the first quarter of 2009, created an even more urgent need for restructuring, portfolio management and cost control measures. Fortunately, Freudenberg Nonwovens had defined and begun implementing many of these measures during 2008 following the completion of its strategic planning process earlier in the year. This, to some extent, has helped Freudenberg get ahead of the curve in responding to the 20-25% decline in sales which it has experienced during the first half of 2009. This sharp decline in sales, which has been more or less experienced across the diverse portfolio of segments in which Freudenberg is active, does appear to have reached a "stable" bottom during the last few months.

"It is much too early to predict when we will actually begin to see a sustainable recovery in demand," said Bruce Olson, CEO and president of Freudenberg Nonwovens. "Nevertheless, I am confident that Freudenberg Nonwovens will emerge from the current economic crisis as a stronger and more focused producer, given the adjustments we are making to both our business portfolio and cost structure."

Reacting to the lower demand for nonwovens in the U.S., Freudenberg has moth-balled a polyester production line in Durham, NC in response to a significant decline in demand from its automotive customers. In Europe, FV has taken the decision to consolidate polyester capacity onto a newer and larger production line by shutting down an older and less efficient line. A commoditized segment of the polypropylene hygiene market is under review and potential adjustments to production capacity and cost structures at Freudenberg's facility in Kaiserslautern, Germany are being analyzed. With regard to FV's global spunlaid production capacity footprint, it is worth mentioning the significant investment Freudenberg made to increase polyester capacity at its Taiwan Spunlaid joint venture. This new line, PT 2, came onstream during the second half of 2007 and is helping Freudenberg to drive the profitable growth of its Asian-Pacific business that is taking place despite the current global economic crisis.

"With regard to spunlaid technology, we will continue to invest to lower production costs and improve both the uniformity and performance our polyester product line," Mr. Olson explained. "As an example, we have developed a new spinning process in Asia for bicomponent polyester fibers, which allows us to change the surface appearance of our products in a way that will open up a number of new applications for our spunlaid polyester products."

In addition, Freudenberg is working hard to incorporate higher and higher quantities of PCR (post-consumer recycled) polyester flakes into its products to meet the growing demand for "green," sustainable Nonwovens. A good example of this is Lutradur Eco product line that has been recently launched in the U.S. and has qualified for LEEDS points. Last but not least, FV will continue to invest in the development of new fine-fiber and microfilament technologies that can significantly increase the market for our spunlaid products.

"We have made a significant investment to convert one of our polypropylene spunlaid lines in Kaiserslautern into a line capable of producing a wide range of fine-fibre products that we currently have under development" said Mr. Olson. The interest in the Evolon microfilament technology continues to grow to the point where the company will likely need to consider an investment to expand its production capacity during the next 12-18 months.

As noted above, consequent portfolio management has played an important role in making certain that Freudenberg Nonwovens will emerge from the current economic crisis as a stronger and more-focused supplier to the Nonwovens industry. The first part of this process was to identify those businesses within the portfolio which could not be restructured quickly or were cost-effective enough to meet the profitability targets we have set for ourselves in order to divest or close these businesses as quickly as possible. A good example of this was the company's decision to close at the end of the first quarter of 2009, the staple-fiber production facility in Durham, NC, which had been stagnating and declining in profitability for several years.

However, portfolio management involves much more than just the divestment and/or closure of non-performing businesses. It also entails identifying those businesses within the portfolio that offer good chances for future profitable growth and making certain that adequate resources are being invested in a focused way to help nurture and scale up these businesses. Fine-fiber and microfilament spunlaid products are good examples of such businesses. In addition, Freudenberg sees good chances to expand the supply of staple fiber products to meet the growing demand in the automotive interiors, personal hygiene, medical, battery separator and electro-cable market segments.

"We also expect to continue investing to move downstream by adding more and more value to our base products through finishing and converting" Mr. Olson concluded. "This already plays an important role in our supply of products to the battery industry. A more recent example is the investment we made in a new facility in Littleborough, U.K. to support production of our adsorptives line which are products finished with activated-carbon technology that find use in medical and a variety of technical applications."

At the beginning of 2009, Freudenberg spun off its filter division into a separate business group within the Freudenberg Group of companies, called Freudenberg Filtration Technologies. This decision evolved from Freudenberg's business model, which favors small entrepreneurial companies.

2

DuPont

Wilmington, DE

www.dupont.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $1.4 billion

Key Personnel

Thomas Powell, vice president and general manager of DuPont Protection Technologies; Nigel Budden, global market leader, DuPont Protection Technologies; Roger K. Siemionko, global technology leader, DuPont Protection Technologies

Plants

Richmond, VA (Tyvek), Old Hickory, TN (spunlace, Suprel, Softesse), Luxembourg (Tyvek, Typar), Asturias, Spain (spunlace) Shenzhen, China (Tyvek and Spunlace converting facility), Seoul, Korea (HMT), Brazil J/V (Spunlace)

ISO Status

All plants are ISO 9002 certified, Luxembourg facility is also 9001 certified

Processes

Flashspun (Tyvek), spunbond (Typar), spunlace, Advanced Composite Technology, Hybrid Membrane Technology

Brand Names

Tyvek, Tychem, Sontara, Suprel, Softesse, ComforMax, Typar

Major Markets

Construction, healthcare, protective apparel, industrial filtration, absorbents, home furnishings, envelopes, geotextiles, graphics, packaging, footwear, automotive

DuPont Nonwovens has merged with its sister units Advanced Fiber Systems and DuPont Personal Protection to form a new business unit, DuPont Protection Technologies. Formed in July, the new organization groups together technologies and products that protect lives, the environment and critical processes worldwide. Thomas Powell, who had been serving as vice president and general manager of DuPont Advanced Fiber Systems, is leading the organization as vice president and general manager.

Barry Granger, former vice president and general manager of DuPont Nonwovens, has been named vice president and general manager of government marketing and affairs, responsible for accelerating business growth in the public sector with a focus on the U.S. economic stimulus package and other policy programs.

"We are tremendously excited about the opportunities created for our people and our customers by combining these businesses," said Mr. Powell. "We believe we will be able to quickly simplify internal processes, increase the speed of decision-making and more fully leverage our large investments in research and development across market segments. These changes will lead to more rapid innovation and improve our responsiveness to customers."

Mr. Powell emphasized that DuPont Protection Technologies will continue to operate its existing manufacturing and research facilities around the world and that there are no plans to close or combine any sites as a result of the restructuring. He also stressed that the business remains committed to the current business strategies and market segments.

"It's really about growth and efficiency," he added. "We have a lot of overlap between the businesses. For example, our Industrial Protection segment makes garments using Kevlar, Nomex and Tyvek. We looked at the missions of Nonwovens and Advanced Fiber Systems, and they were both focused on protecting the environment, protecting lives and protecting critical processes. Through the merger, we have leveraged the large investment in research and development, and there are a lot more synergies we can take advantage of by pulling them together."

Initially, the synergies are strongest on the garment side, but DuPont believes that further technology synergies will quickly be obvious. While the center of gravity for the businesses is at the same facility--DuPont's Richmond, VA site--they have historically operated independently of one another.

"We want to be leaner and faster in the eyes of our customers," said Nigel Budden, global market leader of DuPont Protection Technologies. "This brings us together in a manner that enables customers to more easily recognize who we are. The new strategic business unit has a strong focus on regional execution to get a lot closer to the day to day ins and outs of dealing with our customers."

No stranger to nonwovens, Mr. Budden was the global busi ness director for DuPont's Sontara business unit prior to the organizational change. He described 2008 as a growth year until the fourth quarter when the dynamics changed completely and the company saw a weakening across many of its businesses. These sales have yet to rebound, but executives are cautiously optimistic that they have reached a bottom.

With a huge presence in the construction market with its Tyvek flashspun nonwovens, DuPont reacted quickly to the global economic downturn, initiating two rounds of restructuring lay-offs-one in December 2008 and another in May 2009. DuPont has adjusted its capacity levels to meet global demand. On the spunlace side, this has meant the idling of a straight fiber spunlace line in Old Hickory, TN, which was targeted largely at the wipes market. In flashspun, output has been reduced, but so far no lines have been permanently closed. The goal, executives say, is to protect as many jobs as possible for when the market comes back.

Also prepping the company for the economy's return to life is a continued focus on research and development, much of which revolves around protective barrier applications like Tyvek construction materials and medical packaging grades, Sontara and Suprel medical gowns and DuPont's Hybrid Membrane Technology (HMT) and its role in filtration and energy storage applications.

"Flexible barrier protection is the sweet spot of our technology scope," said Roger Siemionko, global technology leader for DuPont Protection Technologies. "We are able to offer a whole range from Tyvek to HMT to meet a number of needs. We are working very hard at ex tending the range of our battier offerings by expanding the capabilities of those base technologies to give us different technologies."

HMT, which was purchased from a South Korean company in 2005, bridges the gap between a nonwoven and a membrane and has seen significant attention in the gas turbine and liquid coalescing markets. More recently, attention has been paid in the lithium ion battery market, Dr. Siemionko added. HMT is being made in Korea and is being targeted globally.

Meanwhile, Tyvek, DuPont's original nonwovens technology developed more than four decades ago, continues to be improved, making it not only more protective but also more breathable. This has opened up new opportunities for Tyvek in construction, despite weakness in that market, and in protective apparel.

On the new market front, use of Tyvek is growing in the agriculture field and is making inroads in the lighting market where its high reflectivity can increase lighting efficiency by 50%.

In April, DuPont introduced DuPont Tyvek Vivia, a coated material for wide-format printing. Tyvek Vivia is a recyclable solution that is excellent for printing graphics, resists creases for a more polished look and offers superior durability for indoor and outdoor banner and sign applications.

In other news, DuPont, together with Waste Management, has launched a national mail-in recycling program to capture banners, envelopes and other items printed on DuPont Tyvek. This provides a method for printers and other large volume users of printed products who are looking for a responsible and simple alternative to adding Tyvek to the nation's landfills.

Meanwhile on the spunlace side, DuPont's medical garment business, containing Soffesse spunlaced materials, garments made with Advanced Composite Technology and Acturel film offerings, remained strong throughout 2008 thanks to strength in the medical business. While spunlaced nonwovens have been challenged by spunmelt in the medical arena, DuPont has been able to fight back with its ACT, which combines the strength of polyester with the softness of polyethylene in one garment. "ACT is a bicomponent material and as such it is definitely positioned at the high end of the garment industry in general, but the value proposition is its ability to offer high levels of protection and comfort," said Mr. Budden.

Moving forward, executives expect DuPont's nonwovens offerings to continue to benefit and expand from a continued stream of research and development efforts. "If you look at the newly created DuPont Protection Technologies, it is a high investment area for the company, meaning that moving forward, nonwovens won't be starved for resources," Mr. Powell said. "There is a lot of fundamental work going on related to DuPont nonwovens. We are definitely looking at routes to fine fiber technology-say, below one micron--in addition to what we are doing with HMT. This should give us access to markets outside of where we are today."

3

Kimberly-Clark

Dallas, TX

www.kimberly-clark.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $1.3 billion

Partnership Products and K-C Professional Headquarters Roswell, GA 30076 Telephone: [phone]

Key Personnel

Thomas Falk, chairman and CEO; Jan Spencer, president, K-C Professional & Other; Richard Thorne, vice president, K-C Professional North America; Stephanie Rossignol, director, K-C Professional Wipers and Partnership Products; Bob Stargel, vice president, Nonwovens Operations and Technology

Plants

Corinth, MS, Balfour, NC, Lexington, NC, LaGrange, GA, Neenah, WI

ISO Status

Certification achieved in Berkeley, NC, Lexington, NC, LaGrange, GA and Barton (UK); other facilities in progress

Processes

Spunbond, meltblown, SMS, BCW, hydroentangled and Coform

Brand Names

Blockit protective fabric, Cyclean filtration media, Dustop protective fabric, Evolution 4 protective fabric, Intrepid filtration media, Noah protective fabric and Powerloft filtration media

Major Markets

Filtration, acoustics, hygiene, industrial, medical, packaging, protective, sorbents, textile linings and wet wipes

Kimberly-Clark is holding its own in 2009 while managing in a challenging business environment. At $4.7 billion for the second quarter, corporate-wide sales were down 5.6%, net selling prices climbed 5% and sales volumes declined by 2%. According to the company, its teams delivered solid organic sales growth over the past year, brought innovative new and improved products to market, enhanced the competitive position of its brands, deepened its relationships with key customers and maintained a strong financial position.

Within Kimberly-Clark's multi-billion dollar corporation, the company's Global Nonwovens Unit is responsible for producing the nonwoven roll goods that target external markets as well as KC's consumer, B2B and medical products businesses. Thanks to these highly engineered fabrics, leading brands such as Huggies disposable diapers and Pull-Ups training pants, Depend adult incontinence products and Kotex feminine sanitary protection items have earned household recognition across the globe.

Many of the absorbent and specialty materials sold externally are supplied by K-C's Global Nonwovens team and are used in air filtration, liquid contaminant removal, automotive protection and residential and institutional cleaning.

The Partnership Products business reported essentially flat sales in 2008. Stephanie Rossignol, director, K-C Professional Wipers and Partnership Products said that applications involving safety, cleanliness, health and hygiene had a fairly strong showing. "Although Partnership Products had declines in some industrial segments, we saw growth in consumer and health care applications."

Fueling growth for K-C is an emphasis on sustainability with the launch of several Earth-friendly products. "We are very focused on sustainability, especially in our consumer products," Ms. Rossignol said.

One new offering boasting these benefits is the Scott Naturals brand, a family of bath tissues, paper towels, napkins and flushable wipes. Scott Naturals flushable wipes are made from fibers derived from 100% sustainable resources and natural aloe vera to leave consumers feeling fresh and clean. Meanwhile, the bath tissue includes 40% recycled fiber, towels 60% and napkins 80%.

Another new green offering in the consumer products area from K-C is Huggies Pure & Natural super premium diapers. They include natural, organic materials and ingredients to provide gentle protection for new babies, as well as initial steps toward environmental improvements, without sacrificing performance.

The new Huggies Pure & Natural diaper is hypoallergenic, latex-and fragrance-free and features a breathable outer cover that includes organic cotton. The liner includes natural aloe and vitamin E and materials from renewable sources, and the product's outer packaging is sourced from 20% post-consumer recycled materials. The new diaper is offered in six sizes, from newborn to size five.

Kimberly Clark Filtration has also shown its commitment to the environment with the introduction of a green filtration media that delivers MERV 13 performance for LEED Certified buildings. The media was developed in response to the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) standards for ASHRAE 52.2, MERV 13 filtration performance in LEED new construction and major renovation projects. The new media, Intrepid-513H, can be used in two- and four-inch pleated filters that are suited for virtually any commercial HVAC system. Before this media was introduced, most two and four-inch pleated filters were limited to MERV 8 or MERV 11 performance, which provides less efficient capture of airborne particles than MERV 13 filters. Moreover, MERV 13 could only be achieved by pocket or rigid pleat-type filters, which were designated to run at high airflow pressures, beyond the capability of many existing air handling systems.

In the adult incontinence market, K-C is also making strides to ward innovation and market leadership. The company recently unveiled its first gender-specific line of absorbent underwear for adults, Depend Underwear for Men and Depend Underwear for Women. First announced in December 2008, the innovative line consists of all-new, distinct male and female designs tailored to better address the unique body shapes of men and women. The product line delivers enhanced discretion and superior fit and protection.

On the acquisition front, early this year K C locked in a deal to purchase the remainder of its Andes region subsidiary for an undisclosed amount. Based in Bogota, Colombiana Kimberly Colpapel manufactures tissue, personal care and professional products at its nine manufacturing facilities. K-C already owned 69% of the subsidiary and bought the rest from Compania

Colombiana de Inversiones S.A. The acquisition is expected to slightly increase the subsidiary's annual profit and allow for greater growth in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

Another recent acquisition came from K-C Professional and tapped Jackson Safety Products, a privately held company headquartered in Fenton, MO. The company supplies welding safety products, personal protective equipment and work zone safety products. The acquisition is described as consistent with K C's global strategy to accelerate growth of high-margin workplace solutions. The move is expected to enable K-C to focus resources more effectively by increasing sales and marketing manpower to support growth in safety while at the same time dedicating other teams that will help sustain K-C's leadership position and grow its traditional washroom and wiper businesses.

Going forward, developing and emerging markets are also on K-C's radar with double-digit growth reported in these regions during the second quarter of 2009. Currently just 30% of the company's sales are outside of North America and Western Europe and K-C has strong prospects for the BRICIT countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, Indonesia and Turkey).

Another core focus is a concentrated effort on transforming into a legendary marketer by developing and executing commercial ideas and programs that enable K C and its many brands to reach customers and consumers with the right message and product in the right environment, all the time. While its latest innovations will be supported by continued strong marketing efforts, the way K-C has approached marketing has evolved during the past five years. Whereas five years ago, 60% of its advertising budgets went to network television commercials, now only 40% is geared toward television with more targeted spending on new and emerging channels such as digital and online media.

Looking toward the future, R&D investments and strong brands remain key goals for Kimberly-Clark. "We are committed to taking the right steps to continue to grow and deliver innovative solutions that meet our customers' and consumers' needs," said Ms. Rossignol. "We continue to deliver in this area and strongly believe we are positioned for long-term, sustainable growth."

3

Ahlstrom

Helsinki, Finland

www.ahlstrom.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $1.3 billion

Key Personnel

Jan Lang, president and CEO; Risto Anttonen, deputy of the president and CEO, senior vice president, Advanced Nonwovens (interim); Jean-Marie Becket, senior vice president, home & personal nonwovens; Tomi Bjornman, senior vice president, filtration; Laura Raitio, vice president of glass and industrial nonwovens; Gustav Adlercreutz, senior vice president, legal affairs, general counsel; Diego Borello, senior vice president, purchasing and sustainability; Claudio Ermondi, senior vice president, Innovations & Technology; Seppo Parvi, chief financial officer; Rami Raulas, senior vice president, sales and marketing; Daniele Borlatto, senior vice president, release & label papers; Patrick Jeambar, senior vice president, Technical Papers

Processes

Needlepunch, resin bonded, spunlaced, nanofiber, spunmelt/spunbond, wetlaid, wetlaid/Hydraspun, wetlaid/spunlace composite, composite nonwovens, wetlaid/Trinitex, SPC, Caustic Entanglement, film based composites, process enhancements,

Plant Locations

Alicante, Spain, Barcelona, Spain, Bethune, SC, Bishopville, Brignoud, France, Carbonate, Italy, Chimside, U.K., Cressa, Italy, Green Bay, WI, Groesbeck, TX, Hyun Poong, Korea, Karhula, Finland, Louveira, Brazil, Madisonville, KY, Malmedy, Belgium, Mikkeli, Finland, Mozzate, Italy, Mr. Holly Springs, PA, Paulinia, Brazil, Sassoferrato, Italy, Stalldalen, Sweden, Tampere, Finland, Taylorville, Turin, Italy, Tver, Russia, Windsor Locks, CT, Wuxi, China

Major Markets

Wipes, filtration, industrial (Medical, Food Packaging, Wallcover, Building, Automotive)

Sales in Ahlstrom's FiberComposites division increased 4.9% to reach $1.38 billion (987.4 million [euro]) last year thanks to organic growth as well as the integration of acquired businesses. At the same time, operating profits decreased mainly due to low demand in the fourth quarter, overall weak performance in wipes and additional costs related to ramp-ups and the integration of acquisitions.

In 2008, the operating environment of the FiberComposites segment was characterized by the rapid change in the global economy. In the beginning of the year, demand for most of Ahlstrom's nonwoven products was still strong, especially in high growth segments like the windmill industry. By the fourth quarter, demand decreased across all business areas, especially in filtration due to the global decline in the automotives and construction industries. Demand remained brisk in medical and food applications.

In response to these challenges, Ahlstrom announced in April 2009 it would initiate a further restructuring program with the aim of gaining annual cost reductions of 50 million [euro] with a full effect in 2010. When announced, it was reported that these measures could impact up to 400-500 employees globally and would extend throughout Ahlstrom's global businesses.

Even before this, Ahlstrom was streamlining its business. In July 2008, the company divided its nonwovens division into two parts--Home & Personal Nonwovens, covering mainly Ahlstrom's wipes business--and Advanced Nonwovens, incorporating food, medical and industrial nonwovens. According to executives, the high rate of investment and subsequent growth of Ahlstrom's wipes business, which included former Fiberweb, Green Bay Nonwovens and Orlandi spunlace businesses as well as capital investment in Connecticut and Brazil, had required a special focus on its resources. Most of the effort was put on maximizing efficiency of the global wipes manufacturing platform, adapting it to a slowing market growth and some overcapacity.

A first step toward this goal came in January when Ahlstrom announced it would restructure its Italian spunlace business in response to weakened demand for wipes. The measures, including the shutdown of its Gallarate plant as well as a single production line in Cressa Italy, affected 48 employees.

"The planned actions will consolidate Ahlstrom wipes manufacturing organization in Europe into fewer, more efficient sites. This will additionally allow focusing the organization even more on quality and service. We will not exit any market segment or discontinue products; we'll continue serving customers as usual despite the restructuring actions," said Marco Martinez, communications director for Ahlstrom's nonwovens business.

A second effort was announced in June, when Ahlstrom decided to shut down one of its spunlace lines in Bethune, SC and move the products previously made on the line to Green Bay, WI.

Despite the slowdown, sustainability remains a priority both in Ahlstrom's wipes business and throughout its product lines.

"We see a growing interest for more sustainable products coming from consumers, end-users and converters. While all the players in the value-chain are getting more environmentally conscious, there is also an increasing number of specific regulations, which is pushing this process," said Mr. Martinez who called sustainability in both its products and processes one of Ahlstrom's key priorities.

This commitment is shown in Ahlstrom's new line in Chimside, Scotland, which enables the company to make environmentally sound products, for the infusion beverage as well as other markets, based on biodegradable and compostable materials.

"In some applications, certain environmental or sustainability requirements have become a market standard, even long before the recent sustainability hype," Mr. Martinez said. "In some cases, combinations of environmental and performance benefits could enable end users or brand owners to differentiate, enter or create new premium market segments, gaining competitive advantage and getting economic benefits even if the material cost per unit was higher."

Within medical and food nonwovens, demand continues to be strong for Ahlstrom which currently has two major growth investment projects in progress there.The new line in Chimside, Scotland, based on spunmelt nonwovens, will primarily serve the growing infusion products market with next generation products used, for example, in tea bags. This unique production line is able to process renewable and compostable plant-based fibers. This has led to the launch of new, environmentally friendly premium tea bag material, which conforms to EN13432 norms for biodegradability and compostability.

A second, longer term investment project within Ahlstrom's Advanced Nonwovens division is ongoing in India, where Ahlstrom is establishing a new medical nonwovens plant in the Mundra Special Economic Zone in Gujarat. Operations are estimated to start in the first quarter of 2010 and the new plant will make a full range of SMS fabrics for medical applications such as drapes, gowns, facemask and sterile barrier systems.

Another important industrial market for Ahlstrom is wall coverings, where the company sees a clear movement to higher end wall coverings led by an increased designer interest in home decoration. Additionally, growing market demand for sustainable substrates is driven by the number of eco conscious manufacturers and consumers.

Recently launched EasyLife mid-tier nonwovens responds to these trends. Made from a mix of natural and synthetic fibers and complementing the existing ranges of papers and EasyLife high-tier nonwoven substrates, this product is suitable in applications as backings as well as in facings for direct printing, the new materials will combine benefits of paper and nonwoven substrates to deliver excellent printability, optimum design performance and efficient processability.

Also important to Ahlstrom is its filtration division, which has also been the subject of a great deal of investment in recent years. With a long history in the engine filtration market, where it once supplied mainly wetlaid nonwovens media, Ahlstrom decided a few years ago to expand it role into other filtration areas. What followed was a string of investments starting with Hollinnee LLC, giving it access to the HVAC market, continued with Lantor, which added needlepunching capabilities, Fibermark's absorbent materials business and HRS Textiles to enhance its place in air filtration and ended with Sassoferrato, Italy-based Fabriano Filter Media, a maker of micro-glass filter medial, which gave Ahlstrom exposure to high efficiency air filtration markets.

Ahlstrom has also made a number of capital investments in its filtration business, most recently two sister needle punch lines, mainly for dust filtration, in Bethune, SC and Wuxi, China, to help round out its newly acquired business. However, more recent attention has been paid to rationalizing and optimizing these assets. Recent efforts have included the closure of sites in Darlington, SC and Bellingham, MA in early 2008. Lines from these sites were moved to Groesbeck, TX and Bethune, SC, respectively. A liquid filtration converting operation once located in Mt. Holly Springs, PA has also moved to Bethune.

According to Jerome Barrillon, vice president of sales, liquid filtration, filtration has been defensive against weakened economies. While the OEM segment of this business has suffered in the wake of automotive industry problems, success has been seen in the aftermarket business as consumers are more careful about taking care of existing vehicles. The same can be said in Ahlstrom's HVAC business, which was hurt by the recent construction slowdown but at the same time has benefitted from consumer interest in protecting their assets.

New technology continues to also be important to Ahlstrom's filtration business. This includes Ahlstrom's Disruptor product--esigned specifically for improving the quality of water through particulate filtration properties produced by both electro adsorption and mechanical filtration. Improved taste and odor qualities are provided through the addition of powdered activated carbon (PAC).

5

Polymer Group Inc.

Charlotte, NC

www.polymergroupinc.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $1.15 billion

Key Personnel

Veronica Hagen, chief executive officer; Robert Kocourek, chief financial officer; Mike Hale, chief operating officer; Bob Dale, vice president of research and development; Jonathan Bourget, senior vice president and general manager, Europe; Rolando Dominguez, vice president, general manager, Latin America; Daniel Guerrero, vice president and general manager, U.S.; Richard Gillespie, vice president and general manager, Canada; Wuling Zhang, vice president and general manager, Asia; Charlie Saine, vice president, global procurement; John Heironimus, vice president and chief marketing officer and chief sustainability officer; Dennis Norman, vice president, strategy and corporate development

Plants

Benson, NC; Mooresville, NC; Waynesboro, VA; Clackamas, OR; Clearfield, UT; Guntown, MS; Kingman, KS; Magog, Quebec; North Bay, Ontario; Cuijk, The Netherlands; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Bailleul, France; Nanhai, China; Suzhou, China; Call, Colombia

ISO Status

Benson, NC; North Little Rock, AR; Mooresville, NC; Waynesboro, VA; Nanhai, China; Buenos Aires, Argentina; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; and Cuijk, The Netherlands are ISO 9002 certified

Processes

Spunbonded, meltblown, SMS, composites, through air bonded, adhesive bonded, resin bonded, thermal bonded, spunlaced, airlaid, apertured film, film laminates, sonic laminated, extruded polyolefins, thermal laminated, Apex, Spinlace, other proprietary fabric forming, surfacing and binding systems

Brand Names

Apex, Agriban, Agribon, Amira, Aquapex, Bonlinn, Bonsec, Chicopee, Chix, Chux, Comfortlace, Comfortsilk, Duralace, Du rapex, Dura-Tex, Freeswell, Isolite, Keybak, Kiara, Masslin, Matline, Medisoft, Medisoft Ultra, Multi-Strike, Poly-Breathe, Poly-Safe, Quat-Safe, Provia, Reticulon, Reforel, Softlin, SoftTouch, Spinlace, SuperSoft, TopSwell, Thermoform, Thermospost Ultra Dryloft, Titan, Ultra-Ply, Xiora

Despite the tough global economic climate, nonwovens producer PGI ended 2008 a much stronger company than it was a year-anda-half ago with sales at a record high, according to Veronica (Ronee) Hagen, chief executive officer.

"These are the toughest economic conditions I've ever seen," said Ms. Hagen. "The challenges have us doing business in a cognitive fog. We don't have a lot of the information we used to rely on when we wanted to make decisions--there is so much volatility in terms of raw materials, global demand and currency fluctuations."

Against this difficult backdrop, Ms. Hagen is proud to say that PGI is stronger than it was 18 months ago and well positioned for what will likely be an extended tough economic situation. This is partly credited to PGI's good business sense but the defensive nature of the hygiene market has also played a role.

Currently, PGI's nonwovens business is split between twothirds single-use sales--hygiene, wipes and medical applications--and one-third industrial markets.

"We are pleased we are in a non-cyclical business," Ms. Hagen said. "Two-thirds of our business is single-use and that's been a positive thing for us. We have a diversified market portfolio in our businesses and this extends globally. We don't have too much exposure to any one region or market."

Sales were up 8.1% for PGI in 2008, a trend not expected to continue this year primarily due to lower selling prices resulting from lower raw material costs. Additionally, the company expects declines in its industrial business volumes, namely U.S. automo tive products and construction, to not be offset by gains in its disposables business.

"We don't expect the same level of growth in 2009 because it would require higher raw material prices in our disposables businesses, which is not expected," said Dennis Norman, vice president of strategy and corporate development. "Industrial is also going to be off considerably."

In addition to higher raw material prices, PGI's nonwovens sales were boosted last year by the continued ramp-up of a new line in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the continued roll out of its Spinlace continuous filament technology and some new industrial applications. More recently PGI's sales have been benefitting from the completion of a state-of-the-art spunbond line in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, which came onstream in May ahead of schedule.

The $50 million plant expansion increased PGI's capacity by approximately 15,000 metric tons to meet ongoing demand for the company's nonwoven materials used in hygiene and disposable medical applications.

PGI's new Reifenhauser Reicofil 4 line features the latest technology and produces high quality, lightweight, strong fabrics for use in fine denier barrier materials used in diapers and medical garments. In addition to serving customers in Mexico and the U.8., the new line is also a gateway for PGI to supply its products to Central America and the Caribbean.

These new lines have secured PGI's role as the world's largest manufacturer of spunmelt nonwovens in the Americas. With capacity spread out between North Carolina, Virginia, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, PGI has a sizable hygiene business, serving multinational and private label diaper and hygiene manufacturers. Mr. Norman said he characterizes the North American hygiene market as healthy, for now. "If all of the new lines previously announced come in, the industry could start seeing some problems with overcapacity," he said.

Outside of North America, PGI has a large spunmelt line as well as a medical gown converting operation in China, which has contributed to the company's leadership position in the Chinese medical gown market.

"In 2008, we were able to leapfrog into a number one position in all of the (medical) markets we participate in," said Mr. Nor man. "These include gowns and drapes, head covers and shoe covers. The medical market has an existing supply chain and the fact that we are in China and that we are vertically integrated gives us the ability to deliver."

According to Ms. Hagen, cost effectiveness and flexibility has allowed spunmelt to dominate many markets and this is why the company has invested so heavily in the technology during the past couple of years. "Markets tend to migrate to the best technology. Spunmelt is a very cost effective technology and it would be great if it could satisfy all of the market needs. Right now it can't, but Spinlace is a good example of how this technology is expanding to meet new market needs," she said.

By Spinlace, Ms. Hagen is referring to the company's continuous filament technology, which was launched in April 2007 and is al ready being used by multinational wipes manufacturers including a major consumer goods manufacturer that chose the material for its disinfectant wipes relaunch last year. The Spinlace process provides added strength, absorbency, texturizing and other performance characteristics that enhance the cleaning in the wipes.

PGI created Spinlace to bridge the gap between value and performance in wipes. By eliminating the carded manufacturing steps, PGI is combining continuous filament, pulp and its proprietary Apex imaging technology to achieve the performance attributes customers want at competitive prices.

"Wipes is a good example of a market where value has eroded," said Cliff Bridges, global marketing and HR communications director. "The cost everyone was willing to pay came down creating a gap between performance and price. Spinlace helped bridge this gap by offering superior performance in a more efficient manner."

In addition to these expansions, PGI has focused on streamlining its business, exiting businesses that strategically don't make sense, and consolidating plants and machinery to improve its cost performance. The latest of these efforts came in June when the company announced a plan to close its North Little Rock, AR facility by early next year--making the site the fourth PGI site to close in three years. Under the plan, PGI will consolidate certain manufacturing operations into its Benson, NC plant and phase out operations of its North Little Rock facility by the end of March 2010 and relocate portions of its hydroentanglement and fusible fiber businesses to increase efficiency, reduce costs and maintain its high quality levels. These activities will involve upgrading the capabilities of both the hydroentanglement and fusible fiber manufacturing bases at PGI in order to meet developing market needs through capitalization of in-house intellectual properties.

According to Mr. Bridges, this facility was very industrial-oriented and as such was hit quite hard by the economic crisis. "It is well aligned with our Benson operation so it made sense to shut it down when we were looking at streamlining," he said.

PGI closed sites in Rogers, AR and Gainesville, GA in 2007 and in Landisville, NJ in mid 2008.

PGI is also reexamining its business portfolio to consider what businesses continue to make sense for it in this new economy. Despite the fact it had invested in its automotives business in the U.S. as recently as 2008, earlier this year, PGI made the decision to exit the automotives market--except for its business in the automotive wipes category. "Volume in the industry was cut in half and our business model just didn't make sense any more," Mr. Bridges explained. "There would have to be a really compelling argument for us to re-enter that market. We are now selling the assets we used to make those products."

Also hurting has been the construction market, particularly the housewrap segment, but bedding, particularly in the FR arena, continues to perform well as does filtration, where PGI's presence is small but competitive in certain niche markets.

Moving forward, PGI sees great opportunity to partner more closely with its customers and create greater value through its sustainability initiatives.

"We are committed to achieving leadership in sustainability in our industry," Ms. Hagen said. "We see this as not only an essential matter of corporate responsibility, but also an important area of collaboration with our key customers and suppliers. Our commitment to sustainability is a reflection of our values and integral part of the PGI brand. The world's leading companies have embraced the sustainability challenge as a core operating principle and PGI will be no exception as a leading global nonwovens company."

6

Fiberweb

London, U.K.

www.fiberweb.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $947 million

Key Personnel

Daniel Dayan, CEO; Dan Abrams, CFO; Ian Barnes, president, Consumer Fabrics; Derek Chan, president Asia/Pacific: John Juric, president, Americas Industrial division; Paul Glover, Managing Director Terrain; Hans Jorg Oberberg, president, European Industrial division

Plants

Green Bay, WI; Old Hickory, TN; Simpsonville, SC; Tianjin, China; Biesheim, France; Aschersleben, Germany; Berlin, Germany; Trezzano Rosa, Italy; Pontypool, U.K.; Norrkoping, Sweden; Port Elizabeth, South Africa (JV); Peine, Germany; Terno d'Isola, Italy;

Processes

Chemical bonded, thermal bonded, meltblown, bicomponent spunbond, airlaid, air through bonded, spunbond, composites

Major Markets

Construction and ground contact, consumer care, filtration, baby and adult diapers, hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, femcare

Reporting a decrease of 3% was Fiberweb whose 2008 sales were 512 [pounds sterling] million due largely to softness in its industrial markets. "Hygiene is a pretty defensive market," said CEO Daniel Dayan. "There can be some lower usages or also some trade down from mid-tier brands to lower-tier ones, but much of the softness we saw was in our industrial markets, particularly those that have to do with construction."

During the same time, earnings tripled, a continuance of a turnaround begun during the second half of 2007.

A key component of this plan was the shuttering of older spunmelt lines, first in the U.S., and more recently in Europe when Fiberweb said it would shut down an older line in Norrkoping, Sweden and cut output at sites in Peine, Germany and Biesheim, France as its high speed, state-of-the-art spunmelt line at its Trezzano Rosa, Italy site was completed. These measures were expected to keep Fiberweb's spunbond capacity in Europe broadly constant while increasing its average capacity per line by around 50% compared to first half 2008.

These moves follow the closure of two spunmelt lines in Washougal, WA as well as an SMS line, a spunbond line and a portion of a pilot line in Simpsonville, SC in mid 2007 as well as the shutdown of a Toronto line earlier that year.

"The old BBA did not invest efficiently in spunmelt but since 2006 we have worked piece by piece to reinvest," Mr. Dayan said.

These latest efforts in Europe will lessen the Fiberweb workforce by about 120 but newer, more efficient lines in Sweden and Italy will allow the company's European spunmelt capacity to remain level.

These streamlining measures had been planned since Fiber-web gained independence from its parent company, The BBA Group, three years ago.

"We haven't done anything directly in response to the economic crisis," Mr. Dayan explained. "What we have done is continue the structuring efforts started in 2006. The only result is that we may have accelerated some of those efforts in response to the crisis."

Characterizing the European market as too crowded and too fragmented, Mr. Dayan blames current conditions on over-investment in the past. "To remain competitive, the smaller players had to invest in more modern machinery or get out of the market. Too many companies opted to invest."

In North America, Fiberweb's solution to fragmentation is a joint venture partnership. This summer, the company's board approved a plan to form a joint venture with Brazilian producer Fitesa--a company with firm plans to invest in North America--about combining the two companies' American hygiene businesses, including Fitesa's planned North American investment, its recently heavily invested Brazilian operation and Fiberweb's facilities in Washougal, WA and Queretaro, Mexico.

"We see this as a clever way to enable consolidation when it's hard to get financing," Mr. Dayan said. "It gives us access to South America at a great cost base and investment in North America at half the price, while giving Fitesa efficient access to North America, technology and global customers."

The new joint venture company is set to be the second largest maker of spunmelt nonwovens in the Americas. Fiberweb's spun melt assets outside of the Americas as well as its nonwovens technologies beyond spunmelt were not impacted by the venture.

Another technology that continues to be important to Fiberweb is airlaid. As China's largest producer of airlaid nonwovens with two lines in Tianjin, China, Fiberweb continues to be committed to this market despite a recent decision to close a fairly new line at its Korma, Italy site. The line, which was ordered with the intent to go after some feminine hygiene business formerly supplied by older Fiberweb technology. When the customer decided to change its product to aiflaid, Fiberweb opted to invest in a new line to serve it. Unfortunately, the new line was unable to achieve the economies necessary for its customers for a number of reasons.

Beyond hygiene, the three main industrial areas important to Fiberweb are filtration, specialty construction and graphic arts. While filtration and graphic arts are performing relatively well, specialty construction has been hit hard by the global economic crisis, particularly in North America where housing starts are down significantly.

Still bullish about filtration, however, Fiberweb recently announced a plan to help boost its position in this market. The company is in the process of adding meltblown capacity in Biesheim, France, which has contained a meltblown operation for 18 years, to significantly increase its capacity for air filtration media used in facemasks, respirators and HVAC applications.

The new line is expected to be complete in January 2010. Already Fiberweb has received commitments from several key customers that require increased amounts of the filter media.

During the past couple of years, Fiberweb has undertaken a strategic review of its global nonwovens business, which some could say boasts one of the most diverse range of technologies and markets in the industry. This process led to the sales of a global spunlace business and its share of joint ventures including an elastics technology group, a Saudi spunmelt maker and a Brazilian geotextiles manufacturer, continued investment in core technologies and a serious reduction in its number of employees.

"Under BBA, the company became too diverse and unfocused," Mr. Dayan said.

That's not to say of course, that Fiberweb, isn't interested in acquiring new businesses or forming new partnerships, as evidenced by its recent agreement with Fitesa. "In principal, joint ventures can be an appropriate way of doing business," Mr. Dayan said. "But, they need to be with compatible partners who share a strategy and recognize that both sides bring something to the table.

Focusing on its strengths, in fact, has allowed Fiberweb to do nearly the same with a whole lot less. Despite a number of division sales and plant shutdowns, nonwovens sales have decreased just 40 million [pounds sterling] in the past couple of years while its workforce has dropped dramatically from 3300 to 1900 people. While growth may not be a reality in today's economic climate it's not too obscure of a concept for Fiberweb. "It's a bit of a luxury to talk about growth at this point, but we are instead focusing on being strong as possible for when recovery arrives. We want to get our hygiene business right and we will continue to focus on filtration and specialty items."

7

Johns Manville

Denver, CO

www.jm.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $670 million

Key Personnel

Bob Wamboldt, vice president & general manager, Engineered Products North America (EPNA) Ermo Henze, vice president & general manager, Engineered Products Europe/Asia (EPEA); Ken Forden, director of sales and marketing EPNA; Christian Hassmann, segment manager, filtration & separation and marketing manager, Nonwovens EPEA; Stefan Mohr, segment manager, Waterproofing EPEA; Anne Schafer, segment manager, construction & industrial EPEA

Plants

Waterville, OH; Defiance, OH; Richland, MS; Spartanburg, SC; Etowah, TN; Bobingen, Berlin, Wertheim, Karlstein and Steinach, Germany; Shanghai and Louyang, China; Trnava, Slovakia;

ISO Status

Spartanburg, SC and Defiance, OH ISO 9002 certified; Bobingen and Berlin, Germany ISO 9001 certified; Waterville, OH ISO 9002 certified; Etowah, TN ISO 9002 certified; Richland, MS ISO 9001 certified

Processes

Airlaid (glass and synthetic), wetlaid, meltblown, spunlaid needling, composite

Brand Names

Assurance, Dura-Glass, Delta-Aire, DynaWick, DynaWeb, DynaTech, Micro-Aire, MicroLith, microlith, ecoMat, DuraGlass, DuraSpun, SpunFil, CombiFil, ComforTex, UniTex, ForTex, Illuma White, StabilStrand, DuraBase and Gorilla Wrap, StableGrip

Major Markets

Roofing substrates, air and liquid filtration, sorbents, battery separators, geotexfiles, flooring substrates and racers for building products, wind energy, nonwovens for engineered wood composites

With a new regional structure in place, leading roll goods producer Johns Manville (JM) is focusing on keeping costs under control in a difficult economic environment. The company is organized into four regional segments--Insulation Systems, Roofing Systems and Engineered Products North America (EPNA) and Engineered Products Europe/Asia (EPEA)."The new regional structure has increased decision-making speed and keeps the focus on critical customer issues that drive continuous improvement," explained Bob Wambodt vice president and general manager, Engineered Products North America, and Enno Henze, vice president and general manager, Engineered Products Europe/Asia.

Like most manufacturers, JM's business has been impacted by tough economic conditions on both the North American and European fronts. After a very strong start into 2008 with record sales in the building and construction markets as well as in the filtration and separation segment, the company saw a significant slowdown in the fourth quarter caused by the global economic crisis, particularly in Europe. Due to its broad portfolio of products and markets, JM reports that its results have been pretty stable so far.

JM remains sharply focused on polyester spunbond and glass fiber nonwovens for building and industrial applications. According to Mr. Henze, the company is launching several new products and continues to concentrate on product and application development." Many cost control cuts have been made, but reducing our focus on product innovation has not been considered," he remarked.

In the area of filtration, JM has extended its polyester spunbond range to include a new "heavyweight" variation of its SpunFil product. The 260 gsm filter media for industrial air applications increases the stiffness, stability and filter efficiency significantly. The filtration portfolio has also been enlarged with energy efficient media for air pollution control and gas turbines.

Also new is StabilStrand; an innovative product family composed of glass fiber nonwovens and unique binder systems such as b-stage melamine. StabilStrand is designed for use as a surface layer as well as an underlayer for engineered wood materials.

Other filtration products from JM include CombiFil Premium, SpunFil EasyPleat and Micro-Strand XE. CombiFil Premium combines the advantages of both polyester spunbond and microglass and provides a filtration product that has consistent mechanical filtration efficiency up to HEPA, low-pressure drop with high dust holding capacity and requires no additional reinforcements.

SpunFil EasyPleat is a calendered polyester spunbond made with JM's new BC-technology. It has high air permeability and features a high stiffness even at low area weights of between 60 and 120 gsm. The product enables high pleating machine speeds while continuing to achieve sharp and precise pleats.

Micro-Strand XP microfiber is used in manufacturing microglass papers used in HEPA, ULPA and ASHRAE tilters. The glass microfiber meets the rigid health testing standards established by the European Union for fiber exoneration.

Another filtration-related innovation from JM is its Assurance nonwoven composite media made of natural and synthetic fibers. Used to produce a superior mechanical air tilter, the media also enable production of self-supporting air filters that reduce costs, increase manufacturing productivity and avoid safety liabilities associated with expanded-metal filter structures.

For building applications, JM offers DuraSpun XTR, a glass thread reinforced spunbond composite providing best-in-class dimensional stability to bituminous waterproofing membranes; Illuma White, a precoated glass fiber nonwoven for high quality ceiling tiles and the glass fiber nonwoven DHY Forte an innovative product for impact sound attenuation.

In agricultural and landscape markets, JM sells its lightweight 100-120 gsm DuraSpun nonwovens and is underway with efforts to become a larger player in this sector. The fabric allows moisture to pass but reduces weed growth, and--like all of JM's agricultural offerings--is 100% polyester spunbond.

"We are looking to increase our volumes in this area," reported Mr. Wamboldt, "and are working on plant and process improvements at our Spartanburg facility that will allow us to make DuraSpun lighter and thinner. The 120 gsm limit is not normally light enough for landscape applications and we are producing some products now at about 90-95 gsm or 2.7 osy. This will make us more competitive."

In the area of crop protection, the company sells fabric to cover crops to prevent damage from frost; in the erosion control field, JM supplies a distributor that sells into the golf course market where its 013140 lab tic has been accepted as the product of choice for use under sand traps.

JM's Silt Fence offers high efficiency filtration for protecting rivers, creeks and streams while reducing soil erosion on development projects. The product was co-developed by JM and Silt-Saver and is being distributed by Silt-Saver. Currently, Silt Saver is making state-by-state efforts to replace existing woven polypropylene products in North America.

When it comes to capacity expansion, JM has plans to significantly upgrade a specialty glass mat line in Waterville, OH. "The global economic slowdown has clearly impacted overall market demand but JM continues to invest to meet future needs," added Mr. Wamboldt.

Also in North America, the company's glass mat line in Etowah, TN is running 24 hours per day/seven days a week and meeting its business case targets. The company describes the facility as an extremely cost-efficient operation with two large furnaces and 70% of its customers nearby.

In China, where JM operates two facilities, in Shanghai and Louyang respectively, the company continues to service roofing, specialty and geotextiles markets in Asia and the Middle East from its state-of the-art spunbond lines.

JM has five plants in Germany, where a recent highlight was its receipt of the prestigious "Top 100" seal by the Wirtschaftsuniversitat Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration). JM was ranked among the "Top 100" most innovative German mid sized companies. During a ceremony in Konigswinter's "Gastehaus Petersberg," Lothar Spath, former prime minister of Baden Wurttemberg and mentor of the program, presented the prestigious "Top 100" seal to Johns Manville executives Werner Groh, technology leader, and Christian Hassmann, marketing leader.

This is the first time JM has participated in the 17-year-old program. To qualify for this honor, JM participated in a strict two-step process managed by the University that ultimately recognized the company for its culture of innovation that encompassed "innovation promoting top-management," "innovation climate," "innovation processes and organization," "innovation marketing" and "innovation success."

"Our innovation is supported by more than 220 patents, 40 of which were awarded in the past three years," explained Dr. Groh. "Our business team of 950 employees uses Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing tools and processes, which strengthens our credibility among our customers and other partners. We have a well-established innovation process and we believe there is no better way to overcome the challenges of a difficult economic environment."

8

Fibertex

Aalborg, Denmark

www.fibertex.dk

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $295 million

Key Personnel

Mikael Staal Axelsen, CEO, Fibertex Personal Care; Jorgen Bech Madsen, CEO, Fibertex Industrial Nonwovens; Ole Houmann, CFO; Kenneth Mynster Dolmer, purchasing director

Plants

Two in Aalborg; one in Malaysia, two in the Czech Republic

ISO Status

DS/EN ISO 9001 Quality management 1991:2000; DS/ISO 14001 Environmental management 2001; DS 2403 Energy management

Processes

Drylaid, carded, needlepunched, thermal bonded, spunbond/meltblown, technical air lay

Brand Names

Fibertex, Fibertex Nonwovens, Flexback, Formtex, Compoflex, Multigeo, Superflor, Weedseal, Fiberforce, Fibergreen, Fibertex patio, Fibertex universal, Fiberacoustic, TWO-in ONE, Comfort-back, Matchback, Woodback, Q-Match, Making the perfect match, FibertexCOMFORT, FibertexElite, FibertexDual, FibertexPRINT

Major Markets

Industrial textiles--primary and secondary carpet backings, automotive, acoustics, furniture and bedding, filtration; technical textiles-building and construction, composites, do-it-yourself, horticulture; hygiene--applications within baby diapers, femcare and adult incontinence.

The big news at Danish roll goods producer Fibertex last year was the appointment of joint CEOs to oversee the company's two divisions--Fibertex Personal Care and Fibertex Industrial Nonwovens. The two divisions, although operating separately, had until last year, been overseen by one company CEO and led by two general managers--Jorgen Bech Madsen on the industrial side and Mikael Staal Axelsen within personal care--who are now acting at joint CEOs.

The change had little effect in the day-to-day running of the business. "Fibertex has always operated as two independent companies so we cleared up the organization and changed the corporate structure to integrate the organization into two businesses," said Mr. Madsen. "We are now leaner and more focused and the two groups still share a number of departments such as IT and finance."

Amidst this change, total sales were flat at $295 million (DKK 1590 million) for the company last year as gains in the company's personal care division offset declines on the industrial side of its business. Profits, meanwhile increased from DKK13.9 million to DKK36.2 million thanks to a drop in raw material prices as well as increased efficiencies in the group's Malaysian spunmelt operation.

The Personal Care division's sales exceeded DKK 1 billion last year, just more than a decade after its establishment. The division operates three spunmelt lines in Fibertex as well as two at its Malaysian facility. Its share of the global nonwoven hygiene market has been reported at 7%.

According to Mr. Axelsen, this side of Fibertex's business continues to be impacted by oversupply in the European spunmelt market, a situation that's expected to continue for the next three to four years; however, efforts toward diversification as well as operational efficiencies have enabled Fibertex to retain a competitive edge in the market, even in the midst of the economic crisis.

"The overcapacity was already there before the crisis hit. We really saw its impact in developing regions," Mr. Axelsen continued. "However, we have a good marketing profile in that we can offer our customers a range of materials from value added products to strait commodity items."

One of these value adds is the production of printed nonwovens. Through a joint venture with Innowo Print, Fibertex last year established a factory to print on lightweight nonwovens in up to six colors, allowing customers to empower their brands with im ages and designs. Other capabilities include high barrier nonwovens and bicomponent materials.

"Specialty hygiene opens some doors but the big volumes are still in the commodity areas."

Fibertex's Malaysian business still predominantly sells to multi national companies that are present in that area. "The local players are supplying the local diaper market," Mr. Axelsen said. "We find that we better match professional customers."

Meanwhile, Fibertex's Industrial business--with key markets ranging from automotives, geotextiles, filtration, construction and carpet backings--has been hit hard by the economic crisis; however this impact was softened somewhat by an optimization plan put in place before the crisis hit. This plan included a DKK130 million investment in new state-of-the-art equipment lessened raw material consumption, price increases and staff reductions.

Begun in fall 2007, the plan included the start-up of two pro duction lines, one in Aalborg, Denmark, and one in the Czech Re public--which use fewer raw materials; price increases; the shutdown of older production lines including an entire older factory in the Czech Republic; streamlined production process; innovation and product development.

"We now have two modern, state-of-the-art facilities in Denmark and the Czech Republic," Mr. Madsen said. "We didn't know when we did it that there was going to be an economic crisis, but we are glad we did it because it allowed us to shake out all of our fat."

As a result of the economic crisis, Fibertex's automotive business was down significantly during the last quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009. While things have started to gradually improve, the market is still behind expectations. "There is a lot of uncertainty, but we are focusing on what's next. There have been a lot of research and development efforts and we hope to launch a number of new products out of our Czech Republic site once things turn around," said Mr. Madsen.

Citing features like acoustical performance and lower weights, he added that nonwovens are ideal for automotives and he expects them to be offered on a much broader platform to the automotive market post recovery.

Fibertex's operation will be better positioned once the automotive market recovers. As part of the optimization effort, converting operations were moved out of Denmark to the Czech Republic, bringing more labor-intensive operations to lower wage areas to trim production costs.

Meanwhile, construction is finally at a level where Fibertex expected it to be. While some activity is seasonal, more has to do with a push from governments to spend money on infrastructure improvements.

As things continue to improve, filtration is expected to emerge as an important growth market for Fibertex, which so far does not have a large presence there. Some of this growth will stem from Fibertex's interest in nanofilter technology, which is currently being made on a pilot line. "It will take some time before this is truly a market focus," Mr. Madsen explained.

9

Avgol

Tel Aviv, Israel

www.avgol.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $254 million

Key Personnel

Shuki Goldwasser, chairman; Nir Peleg, CEO; Achai Bonneh, director of technology

Plants

Tel Aviv, Israel; Mocksville, NC; Jingmen City, Hubei Province, China; Uzlovaya, Russia

ISO Status

ISO 9002 Certified

Processes

Spunbonded, meltblown, hydroentangled spunlaid

Brand Names

Zebra, Avspun, Avsoft

Major Markets

Hygiene, Medical, Construction, Agriculture, Furniture, Upholstery

With 85% of its output continuing to target hygiene markets, Avgol's strategy centers on consistently delivering top quality, low basis weight spunmelt products around the world. The company is riding out the economic turbulence by keeping its head down and focusing squarely on its core capabilities. "We continue to grow with our major customers, providing them with better, lower weight versions of the products we've been making all along," stated Dennis Durkin. "We have expanded to the point that we are now able to quickly deliver our products in all comers of the world."

In light of current worldwide economic hurdles, Avgol is pleased with its $254 million in sales in 2008, a 7% bump up from the previous year. "Resin prices are a huge factor when it comes to revenue, and it makes it difficult to judge what kind of year a company had strictly based on sales figures. For instance, our 2009 sales may actually decrease, but there's a good chance that we'll have an even better year than in 2008." Meanwhile, Mr. Durkin described 2008 as a year where producers were faced with the worst resin pricing in history.

In terms of current challenges, excess global hygiene capacity tops the list for Avgol. Some excess capacity stems from First Quality's acquisition of Covidien last year, but other recent examples of spunmelt installations include a new multibeam Reicofil machine in Hazleton, PA from First Quality as well as PGI's new state-of-the-art spunbond line in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Concerns of overcapacity are being exacerbated by announced investments by Fitesa and Companhia Providencia, which so far have not come to fruition.

"Frankly, we were scratching our heads and wondering what Fitesa and Providencia were seeing that we weren't," remarked Mr. Durkin. "The fact is there's excess capacity and plenty of people out there selling. In South America, companies are trying to justify their potential investments here in North America. At least in North America, spunmelt is a relatively difficult market right now that could get even more challenging as new investments from either Fitesa or Providencia come online."

In addition to these challenges, Avgol is still regrouping its customer mix following First Quality's purchase of Covidien, which sent a tidal wave through the spunmelt chain last year. "It's no secret that this had a dramatic effect on our business," he said. "We recovered from most of it by late 2008 by adding new customers to fill most of that gap. We still have global system capacity." Prior to the purchase, Covidien's business represented approximately 30-35% of Avgol's worldwide revenue.

Outside of North America, Avgol has been in the process of expanding and has set its sights on both China and Russia as markets with growth potential. The company announced in January that it will add a second Reifenhauser polypropylene line in Jingmen in Hubei Province, 1000 miles west of Shanghai, with an annual capacity of 15,000 tons. The facility is jointly owned by Avgol and China's Hubei Gold Dragon Nonwoven Fabric Co. Ltd., which produces SMS fabrics at the Jingmen site. Avgol has also increased its stake in the Chinese joint venture from 50% to 70%.

"The new line is coming along well and will be running, as expected, in the second quarter of 2010," reported Mr. Durkin. "Preparations are being made and we're already taking delivery of equipment. We're optimistic about growth in this region and about the support we've received from global and regional customers who are pushing us to expand into increasingly lower weight materials." Mr. Durkin added that producers with Reicofil equipment may have difficulty competing in China on certain high weight, low tech applications now, but he expects this to change as demand becomes more sophisticated and the need for higher performing, lower cost materials increase.

"This will change how the market in China looks," he predicted. "As big players come in and set up shop, needs will change and we'll see continued growth of low basis weights. We're be ginning to see this in hygiene already and the medical market is growing as well. There's an increasing need for higher quality medical grade materials."

As for Avgol's recent strides in the Russian market, the company's new line is up and running and supplying commercial grade materials to local customers. Based in Uzlovaya, which is in the Tula region of Russia and 200 km south of Moscow, the new line boasts a capacity of 10,000 metric tons of SMMS material and serves hygiene and industrial applications. "Russia is actually starting to do well and the plant has just recently come pretty close to capacity. We have no current plans to expand in Russia, but I wouldn't be surprised to see plans develop in the next 18-24 months. This is a great potential market for us but we'll take our cue from the local customer base about adding capacity," Mr. Durkin continued.

In Israel, where Avgol is headquartered, the company's five spunmelt lines continue to service local customers as well as some markets in Europe and the Middle East. "The lines in Israel represent about 30% of our business and are doing fine. We have no plans to expand capacity at this time. We've continually upgraded the lines as they have aged and the older, original lines are being put to good use targeting a variety of higher end industrial applications," he offered.

At Avgol's Mocksville, NC facility, plans are moving along to add capabilities to two of its three spunmelt lines, a move that will bump annual capacity by 3500 tons and expand the company's product range for its existing customer base. "There are two phases of this project, one of which happened in June and the other is scheduled for September. I can't give any specifics, but these changes will provide us with the ability to make products we couldn't make before. We'll be producing enhanced new products at our customers' requests." Although the products will initially target hygiene applications, Mr. Durkin indicated that they could spill over into other areas.

In closing, Mr. Durkin highlighted the company's ongoing commitment to the spunmelt market." We will continue to concentrate on better products for a variety of hygiene applications where our technologies are best suited. We don't know where our recent upgrades will bring us, but for now, we'll focus on our core lightweight offerings. Our 8-13 gsm products have fueled our growth and we're now 'Taking Our Innovation Around the World.'"

10

First Quality Nonwovens

Great Neck, NY

www.firstquality.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $250 million

Plants

Hazleton, PA; McElhattan, PA

Processes

Spunmelt

Applications

Hygiene, medical

First Quality Nonwovens continues to invest in both its nonwovens and its packaged goods business with plans for a new diaper plant as well as its first foray into spunlacing making headlines in recent months. Formed in 1996, First Quality Nonwovens has steadily invested in its nonwovens business to make it what it is today, one of the world's largest suppliers of spunmelt nonwovens for medical and hygiene applications. Based in Great Neck, NY, the company has nonwovens operations in Hazleton and McElhattan, PA, which largely serve its massive private label businesses.

According to industry insiders, the current output of tightlipped, privately held First Quality Nonwovens is in the 90,000100,000 ton range, making its sales in the $250 million range. About 18 months ago, First Quality made an ambitious purchase within the private label diaper market when it bought Covidien's retail Products Business (formerly Tyco), making it a forward integrated nonwovens supplier and converter.

First Quality had already produced private label feminine hygiene items, adult diapers, wipes and consumer paper products prior to this purchase and had announced earlier in 2007 plans to enter the private label diaper market.

At the time of the acquisition, the company indicated that ownership of Covidien provided it with a more diversified product portfolio and a full range of adult incontinence, feminine hygiene, wet and dry wipes and baby diaper products and would enable First Quality to enhance its relationships with retail customers by offering broader, more innovative product lines and greater value.

The deal was valued at $335 million. Covidien's retail products business--once known as Tyco Healthcare--had sales of $744 million in fiscal 2007.

First Quality is already expanding this business. In July, a report regarding First Quality's approval to construct a one-million-square-foot diaper manufacturing facility in Granville, PA was published on the Pennsylvania governor's official website. The new construction is expected to create 500 jobs in the area within the next five years.

In other investment news, First Quality began making spunlaced nonwovens this spring on a 3.6-meter-wide Rieter hydroentanglement line, which will reportedly feed the company's private label baby wipes business. Until the new line started up, First Quality had concentrated its nonwovens business on spunmelt technology. The company's most recent spunmelt investment--its eighth line--was added in late 2008.

11

Buckeye Technologies

Memphis, TN

www.bkitech.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $240 million

Key Personnel

Marko Rajamaa, senior vice president, Nonwovens; Mike Brown, Nonwovens sales manager--Americas and Far East; Norbert Busch, Nonwovens sales manager--Europe and Middle East

Plants

British Columbia, North Carolina, Steinfurt, Germany

Processes

Airlaid

Despite a slight decline in its nonwovens sales, Buckeye Technologies has a lot to be proud of. The Memphis, TN-based manufacturer of airlaid nonwovens and specialty fibers exceeded its goals when it came to paying down debt and has generally held its own despite the economic crisis, said sales manager Michael Brown.

"A lot of our customers have not been as affected by the economic crisis as others. Some have actually seen some business growth," he said. "It's really kept our business strong."

The market in general has started favoring airlaid because prices are more stable in its chief raw material, wood, he said.

"Pulp also plays into the whole sustainable raw material issue," Mr. Brown said." Our products main component is a renewable resource and this is something that is attractive to our customers as a selling point."

Approximately 50% of Buckeye's airlaid output targets the wipes market with the remaining serving feminine hygiene and tabletop applications. While the airlaid supply-to-demand ratio has significantly improved in the past several years, there is still excess. "There are only so many customers for airlaid," Mr. Brown said adding that Buckeye spends a lot of time and effort looking at new markets for its airlaid business.

This business includes a large, 30,000-ton-per-year line, which was added earlier this decade, as well as a smaller, recently upgraded line in Gaston, NC, two lines in Vancouver, BC, and two lines in Steinfurt, Germany. While the company has not invested in new lines since it added the 30,000-ton line in 2001, it recently spent quite a bit of money to upgrade the smaller line in Gaston to allow it to make different types of specialty products." We want to do more things on that line," Mr. Brown explained.

Buckeye also recently opened a sales office in Beijing to better serve its customers in Asia and also explore possibilities for future growth.

11

Hollingsworth & Vose

Walpole, MA

www.hovo.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $240 million

Key Personnel

Val Hollingsworth, president and CEO; David von Loesecke, vice president and general manager, engine and industrial filtration; Mike Clark, vice president and general manager, high efficiency and specialty filtration; John Madej, vice president and general manager, Energy & Industrial Specialties; Jochem Hofstetter, vice president and general manager, Europe, Middle East, Africa region; Josh Ayer, vice president and general manager, Asia-Pacific; Jeff Sherer, vice president and CFO; Mario Sandoval, vice president of operations; John Fitzgerald, vice president, technology; Mike Paddock, vice president, human resources

Plants

Apizaco, Mexico; Corvallis, OR; East Walpole, MA; Easton, NY; Floyd, VA; Greenwich, NY; Hatzfeld, Germany; Hawkinsville, GA; Kentmere, UK; Suzhou, China; West Groton, MA; Winchcombe, UK

ISO Status

Apizaco, Mexico, ISO-9000.2000; Corvallis, OR, ISO 9001:2000; East Walpole, MA, ISO 9001:2008; Easton, NY, ISO 9001:2000; Floyd, VA, ISO 9001:2000; Greenwich, NY, ISO 9001:2000; Hatzfeld, Germany, ISO 9001:2000; Hawkinsville, GA, ISO 9001:2000 and AS 9100; Kentmere, UK, ISO 9001:2000; Suzhou, China ISO 9000:2000; West Groton, MA, ISO9001:2000; Winchcombe, UK, ISO 9001:2000.

Processes

Wetlaid, meltblown, carded thermal bonded (point and fiat calendered), latex bonded, thru-air bonded, needlepunched, thermal lamination, aqueous and solvent-based saturation, nanofiber webs, composites, webs incorporating functional particles

Brand Names

AFM, AFN, AlphaPerm, ALPHASEAL, AquaSperse, AquaSure, BGO, Capofilter, Cycleguard, DynaSeal, EnergyGuard, Fastock, HiPerm, Holltek, HiPerm Plus, HovoFuse, Hovoglas, Hovoliner, Hovolon, Hovomat, Hovopulse, Hovosorb, Hovotex, Hovotherm, Hovotrim, Hovowipe, Magnaseal, NanoWave, Nanoweb, PerForm, PurePerm, Saf'N' Shielded, Soft'N, Stable, Stitchbackers, Technostat, The Cat, Tufguard, Unisorb, ValPac, ViaMat, WallTek

Major Markets

Engine & Industrial Filtration; High Efficiency & Specialty Filtration; Energy & Industrial Specialties

Hollingsworth &Vose Company (H&V) looks back on 2008 as a year of steady growth despite rapidly escalating raw material and energy costs and strong pressure to increase pricing at what proved to be the start of a worldwide economic recession. Even in the face of such factors, worldwide sales were up 7% for H&V, with nonwoven roll goods sales totaling $240 million in 2008. Both H&V's Engine and Industrial Filtration business as well as the High Efficiency and Specialty Filtration businesses contributed significantly to this growth. Meanwhile, the company's Energy and Industrial Systems business showed a modest sales increase from 2007 to 2008.

Continuing to be a vital area of development and revenue for H&V is the filtration market, where energy efficiency and product costs are top concerns of the market. As end user demands to improve air quality, further driving the need for higher performing filters, the HESF business group anticipates continued sales growth in personal protective equipment and applications of IAQ equipment and services. These include residential dwellings, commercial buildings, schools and healthcare facilities.

To meet increasingly sophisticated demands from the market, H&V's High Efficiency and Specialty Filtration business is offering a variety of durable, high efficient, low pressure drop filter media solutions, such as Technostat and NanoWave extended surface filter media to provide a next-generation superior HVAC filter that meets and exceeds industry indoor air quality standards and contributes to a building's LEED certification.

H&V's NanoWave capacity was boosted in May with the rebuild of its NanoWave production line, a move set to expand its production range of NanoWave products beyond ASHRAE bag filters. NanoWave can be used in pleated panel air filters, as paint spray booth diffusion media, in respirators and facemasks, vacuum cleaner bags and filters and room air cleaners.

For its part, PerForm, H&V's next generation HEPA/ULPA filter media for cleanroom applications, is setting new standards for performance and processability. PerForm offers a significantly lower cost of ownership over the life of the filter, a benefit valued by customers.

In the Engine and Industrial Filtration Group, H&V felt the impact of overall economic conditions as global demand fell for engine filter products. The slow-down also reflected a significant reduction in automotive production and constant increases in pipeline inventories. Looking forward, however, the company expects to see an uptick in demand due to legislation targeting more stringent air emission standards.

"Market pressures will drive smaller auto engines, smaller filters, longer service intervals and higher performance, with respect to increased engine protection and resistance to heat and water," predicted David von Loesecke, vice president and general manager for the engine and industrial filtration business unit at H&V. He added that biofuels loom as a priority for 2016 emissions and are a main fuel filter driver. "The group's ability to provide high quality cellulose and innovative synthetic products to the engine and general industrial market ensured our continued market leadership in 2008."

In its Engineered Composite Materials business, H&V enjoyed modest growth in 2008. The business is expanding into areas that have the ability to utilize H&V technology and focus on new applications outside of the historical core markets for this material. The company reports that demand for gaskets and seals are on the rise, mainly driven by a rebound in end use markets, rising demand for sealing products made from advanced materials and a slowdown in production growth for most OEM market segments. However, H&V expects this to be offset somewhat by advances in the maintenance/repair/operation market in light of the substantial amounts of new machinery and equipment put into use over the long term, creating opportunities for suppliers of component products.

Meanwhile, the Advanced Fiber Nonwoven (AFN) group re mains committed to working with unique fibers to produce technically demanding composite materials. The Battery Products business continued introducing several new products to its EnergyGuard high-strength VRLA battery separator line.

In the area of surfacing veils, H&V's AFN business holds its place as a worldwide leader and despite the economic downturn has seen positive results in the sale of veils into the tank and pipe market segment for static dissipative and corrosion resistance purposes. In March, AFN introduced ViaMat, a new nonwoven organic reinforcement material for electronic packaging.

The new ViaMat paper delivers improvements in dimensional stability and enables higher interconnect densities. ViaMat features extreme surface smoothness, low CTE, isotropic properties and excellent laser ablation and drillability. "The product launch was well received in the market and we're currently working with a number of customers towards qualification," explained Nate Burnes, AFN business manager.

H&V has also kept busy recently with the rollout of several innovations. For instance, H&V's Engine and Industrial Filtration business introduced a new line of Nanoweb-treated filter media at the 2008 Filtration Show, which is designed to meet the growing needs of original equipment applications in gas turbine/dust collector air filtration and deliver higher efficiency and longer filter life. Recently H&V introduced flame-retardant Nanoweb grades and will also be launching all-synthetic versions later this year.

In its Battery Products business unit, the newest member of H&V's patented EnergyGuard family of high-strength, uniform battery separator products was unveiled. EnergyGuard X delivers greater acid absorption resulting in a capacity boost and longer life for increased warranty performance. The separator's composition offers high strength and greater capacity and product uniformity to ensure exceptional battery performance and manufacturing efficiency.

H&V's Industrial Specialties group has rolled out new, environmentally friendly, low formaldehyde friction products for off-road vehicles and ViaMat for electronics packaging.

Beyond its North American base, H&V's European operations were strong during the first two quarters of 2008 but were negatively impacted during the second hall consistent with the industry and overall economy.

On the other side of the globe, H&V's Asian operations in Suzhou, China continue to be the manufacturing base supplying engine filter media and other technical specialty products for H&V's customers in the Asia-Pacific region." Many grades have been qualified and are now commercial," said Bob Murphey, vice president of marketing for H&V's engine and industrial filtration business unit. The facility's second machine is now commercializing high quality filter media for HEPA, ULPA, HVAC and appliance applications.

Moving forward into 2010 and beyond, H&V plans to continue investing in novel process technologies and increased capacity around the world to serve core markets. The company is also looking to further geographic expansion and continue the implementation of lean/six sigma principles. H&V's business leaders concluded that the strategy to differentiate through new product innovation, market focus and key customer relationships will continue to drive growth and guarantee leadership in the markets currently served.

13

Sandler

Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany

www.sandler.de

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $232 million

Key Personnel

Christian Heinrich Sandier, chief executive officer; Dipl. Kfm. Christian Heinrich Sandier, Dieter Magiera, members of the management board

Plant

Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany

ISO Status

ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001 certified, Okotex Standard 100, OHRIS

Processes

Carded, waddings and drylaid nonwovens, thermally bonded, mechanically bonded, meltblown, thermofused, needlepunched, air through bonded, spunlaced, hotmelt lamination, coating and flexoprinting, embossing

Brand Names

sawafill, sawabond, sawaloom, sawavlies, sawaloft, sawaflor, sawatex, sawascreen, sawagrow, sandler sports, sawaflock, sawaform, sawalux, sawaflex, sawasoff, sawasorb, sandler-fibercomfort, sandler-fiberskin, sandler-unico, sawadur, sawadry, Sandler White Lace, Sandler Silver Lace, sawatex mariquita, sawatex orsettino

Major Markets

Fashion, home furnishing, technical nonwovens (civil engineering, automotive, filtration, horticulture), hygiene, medical, wipes (baby, cosmetic, technical, oil)

With an impressive 33% year-over-year growth rate in 2008, Sandler is "very satisfied" with last year's results, especially its annual turnover of g166 million. The company attributes its organic growth to improved capacity utilization, the introduction of new technologies and products and the expansion of production capacities through the commissioning of a new spunlace line.

Aside from the hygiene market, the traditional markets for furniture and clothing, as well as nonwovens for technical applications, also contributed to Sandler's sales growth. Revenue in the automotive and filtration segments developed well, with Sandler nonwovens currently being found in more than 40 car models. Sales declines for certain products due to economic woes in the automotive industry could be largely balanced in 2008 owing to the utilization of new, innovative nonwovens in this sector.

"At the moment, we're focusing on specific new developments in this business area, which will certainly result in a positive trend in the long term," reported Ulrich Homfeck, sales director.

Despite such achievements, the backdrop for Sandler's success has been a stagnant, highly competitive European spunlace arena and a difficult, unstable situation in the raw materials market. The presence of non European producers in the European market is only making matters worse." Prices and availability of raw materials are subject to sometimes considerable variations, which render the competitive situation even more difficult," said Dr. Homfeck.

When it comes to exports, these sales continue to represent more than half of Sandler's total turnover, with the European Union in particular being a strong area for exports. "However, outside of the EU, export business is difficult due to exchange rate fluctuations," he added.

In 2007 Sandler's strategy was to keep investments simple and concentrate on finalizing an investment program that included the commissioning of a second C20 million spunlace line. Meanwhile, this year Sandler expanded its composite technologies for the manufacture of multi layer fabrics on its existing production lines. Overall, Sandler has invested a total of 90 million cents in the last decade and the number of employees has increased by 20%.

Sandler's new carded needlepunch and spunlaced lines are faring well and production capacities are being well utilized. The needlepunching line enables Sandler to be flexible in manufacturing nonwovens for a variety of technical applications as well as the automotive and construction industries. "This versatile production line opens up a multitude of new application areas," Dr. Homfeck said.

In the wipes segment, Sandler is continuing to promote its "Less is Best to Nature" products, which offer unchanged functionalities at lower basis weights. This product range was enhanced with improved tensile strength as well as innovative designs and structures for new cleaning and technical applications.

As for the filtration industry, here Sandler is addressing demands for discharge efficiency and composite-based pleatable filters with innovative filter materials such as its new pleatable depth filter medium sawaloom plus, which offers high dust storage capacity, high filtration surface and high uniformity.

In construction and other technical applications, Sandler offers various insulation nonwovens, which offer textile alternatives for renovation projects as well as applications in roof construction and wall insulation. For instance, sawatec heat insulation nonwovens are designed to ensure optimal air circulation and prevent moisture build up and mold growth. "Additionally, sawatec contributes to the preservation of occupants' health and its excellent insulation properties create a comfortable indoor climate," said Dr. Homfeck. Exterior wallpapers made of Sandler nonwovens render facade renovations permanent with their breathability and resistance to weather. Textile interior wallpapers with their heat and sound insulation properties are another field of application for Sandler nonwovens.

With regard to nonwovens for automotive applications, Sandler has been concentrating on creating nonwovens with resistance to and absorption of fluids in the engine compartment and exterior applications. Here Sandler offers materials featuring excellent functionalities in both interior and exterior applications. Featuring quick drying, temperature stability and excellent sound insulation properties, sawasorb exterior offers a textile solution for applications in the engine compartment and can act as a barrier to a variety of fluids.

In developing new products, Sandier pays close attention to environmental issues such as recyclability and the utilization of earth friendly raw materials and additives. The company's systematic energy management program optimizes the consumption of gas and electricity, and Sandier is redirecting the transport of raw materials from roads to railways. "Another key aspect of our corporate activities is our commitment to our hometown," emphasized Christian Heinrich Sandier, CEO. "For more than 10 years, we've been supporting the Ecology Park Hertelsleite in Schwarzenbach/Saale and we also maintain our own biotope."

Sandler's strategy is first and foremost based on the goal of stability. The company is banking on moderate, organic growth that will be maintained in the long term. "Our company doesn't just consist of buildings, machines and sales figures," said Dr. Sandler. "We count on our 485 skilled and motivated employees. Each person's performance, commitment and dedication decisively contribute to our success." Sandler sees itself as a capable and productive partner when it comes to service as well as quality and development activities. Going forward, Sandier plans to continue to focus on the integration and combination of a variety of nonwovens technologies.

14

Concert Industries

Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

www.concert.ca

2008 Nonwovens sales: $230 million

Key Personnel

Corporate: Pierre McNeil, president and chief executive officer; Rolf Hovelmann, executive senior vice president and COO; Don Habbick, chief financial officer; Barry Downing, vice president European operations Roll Hovelmann, managing director; Jorg Schlautmann, managing director, sales, R&D and quality; Torsten Gartner, managing director, manufacturing & business systems Canadian operations: Barry Downing, vice president and general manager; Ken Squires, vice president, director of sales; Alain Mercier, vice president, director of operations

Processes/Canada

Airlaid capabilities for thermal, latex, multi and hydrogen bonded; festooner capacity for finishing and packaging

Markets/Canada

Feminine hygiene, home care, food pads and premium wipes

Processes/Germany

Airlaid capabilities for thermal, latex, multi and hydrogen bonded. Festooner capacity for finishing and packaging

Products/Germany

Feminine hygiene, premium wipes, food pads, home care, tabletop, adult incontinence and cosmetic towels

As it waits for its new European line to come onstream, Concert Industries, Gatineau, Quebec, continues to focus on serving markets that see the value of highly engineered products including feminine hygiene, adult incontinence and some specialized wipes areas. "As the innovation leader, Concert is constantly developing new materials for its existing end use segments as well as for new applications and markets," said company CEO Pierre McNeill.

"Concert invests significant resources in research and development and continuously seeks to enter new segments that would benefit from a sophisticated airlaid material."

With 2008 sales hitting the $230 million mark, Concert expects levels to reach $270 million this year as it continues to gain mar ketshare within the specialty personal hygiene markets and continues to expand as its customers move into new regions.

Based in Canada, Concert operates two lines in Gatineau as well as a European facility in Falkenhagen, Germany. While the company has room for growth in North America, it is currently awaiting the completion of a new line in Falkenhagen to ease undercapacity concerns in Europe and other regions. Representing a 60 million [euro] investment, the European expansion will be the site's third airlaid line and will increase its annual production capacity by 30%. The new line will serve the European market as well as emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

"Concert is keen on growing in emerging regions as the growing middle classes in these regions increasingly demand modern personal hygiene products," Mr. McNeill said. "Concert's customers are aggressively growing in the emerging regions and Concert is well positioned to support them in their growth initiatives."

Meanwhile, more developed regions--namely North America and Western Europe--continue to recover for the global economic crisis. While volumes in the personal hygiene market remained largely stable--as expected--customers did manage their working capital levels to generate liquidity. This impacted Concert's sales to some extent in late 2008 and early 2009 but more recently orders have begun to grow again. Europe, meanwhile, entered the recession behind North America and has likewise been slower to come out of it. "However, both markets have seen stable demand in personal hygiene products and as a result, Concert has been able to weather the recession without significant negative impacts to its business," Mr. McNeill said.

Keeping its business strong is nothing new for Concert. During the past several years, the company--which is owned by Tricap Partners, a restructuring fund under the management of Brookfield Asset Management--has worked hard to stay healthy.

This has included the closing of some North American lines, exiting unprofitable businesses, such as the consumer wipes market, and focusing on serving markets that see the value in highly-engineered airlaid products.

14

TWE Group

Dierdorf, Germany

www.twe.de

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $230 million

Key Personnel

Michael Haddon, managing director

Plants

Emsdetten, Germany, Kierdorf, Germany, Hangzhou, China

Processes

Drylaid, chemical bonded, thermal bonded, needlepunched, air through bonded

Applications

hygiene, household, automotives, geotextiles, building, filtration

The year 2008 was marked by continued improvements to its German operations as well as continued expansion in Hangzhou, China for needlepunch expert TWE Group. The company has long had a strong presence in Germany with facilities in Bocholt, Dierdorf and Emsdetten Germany from which it serves its four key markets, namely household, hygiene, filtration and automotives. In recent years, the operations at these sites have been upgraded to allow it to offer new innovations to its customers in these areas, according to company spokesman Michael Haddon.

Last year, TWE closed its Hildener Filz site, which was purchased in 2003, and integrated its production in its other sites.

During the past two years, major investment has been undertaken in China. The company's first Chinese line came onstream there in 2007 and was followed by a second line in late 2008. These lines are in line with the strategic development atTWE with nonwovens for automotive, hygiene and technical applications, based on needlepunch and chemical bonding techniques.

Beyond Germany and China, TWE continues to pursue its stated intend of developing sites beyond Europe. China, was a first step to this plan but other opportunities are being examined in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Mr. Haddon added.

16

Companhia Providencia

Parana, Brazil

www.providencia.com.br

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $225 million

Key Personnel

Herminio Freitas, President and CEO; Eduardo Feldmann, CFO; Alexandre Domeque, commercial director; Romeo Bregant, industrial director

Plant Locations

Sao Jose Pinhais-Parans, Brazil, and Pouso Alegre-Minas Gerais, Brazil

Processes

Spunbonded, SMS, meltblown, laminated nonwovens, printed nonwovens

Brand Names

Kami, Protect, Protect Advanced, Protect Ultra, Kami Soft

Major Markets

Medical, agriculture, furniture and bedding, towel and coverlet, hygiene, filtration, wipes

With its U.S. expansion plan on hold, for now, Brazil's largest nonwovens producer Companhia Providencia continues to focus on diversifying its business. With all 10 of its lines based on Reicofil spunmelt technology, currently about three-quarters of its business caters to the hygiene business. This percentage is expected to decrease as other markets, namely medical, continue to improve their positions.

In July 2008, the nonwovens producer who currently operates all 10 of its lines in Brazil, said it would establish a U.S. subsidiary in Statesville, NC. The company's board of directors has approved a plan to establish this subsidiary with the goal of creating a two-line nonwovens operation that will make an estimated 40,000 tons of nonwovens per year.

Representing a $120 million investment for the company, the lines were initially slated to be operational by June 2010 but economic factors have delayed that plan. Now, executives predict that construction of line one, which has not yet started, will likely be complete by the end of 2010, while the timeline for line two will depend on performance of the first line.

"We need to see signs before we make the decision to begin construction," said CEO Herminio Freitas. "Until then, everything is in place, the engineering, the financing, the machines are ordered. We are ready."

Currently, about half of Companhia Providencia's sales are conducted outside of Brazil, with North America being one of its key export markets. The North American expansion was intended to reduce logistical costs and better position itself with its customer base in North America.

Meanwhile, in Brazil Companhia Providencia's tenth production line came onstream in April 2008 featuring the flexibility needed to help the company target the medical market. To further boost its role within medical, Companhia Providencia established a new medical fabrics division to help it take advantage of the newest production line as well as the company's existing capabilities in cast films, breathable films, printing and laminating. Providencia has developed certified blood and viral barrier products that pass ASTM F-1670 and ASTM F-1671 standards, as well as

SMS products that have received European certifications for EN 13795-2, EN 868-2, and EN ISO 11607-1.

In 2008, medical fabrics sales comprised just 3% of total sales for Providencia but the goal is to improve this share to 10% in the short term. "The medical market is an established and dynamic market that is changing as patient protection standards change and we wanted to take part in this business, "Mr. Freitas said." But we did not want to enter the market as a 'me-too' business."

Providencia's technology efforts are largely centered on offering the same level of protection as competing products only at lower basis weights. Other investments have focused on specialty hygiene applications as the company has upped its printing and laminating capabilities allowing it to offer printed fabrics, breathable films and other items to hygiene producers. In the long-term, executives hope these specialty applications will comprise 18% of its hygiene sales.

"We have been able to grow in South America because we are able to supply higher quality, state-of-the-art products in this region," Mr. Freitas explained. "We will continue to focus on these specialty, high standard products to grow our sales in South America and elsewhere."

17

Japan Vilene

Tokyo, Japan

www.vilene.co.jp

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $222 million

Key Personnel

Mitsuo Kanno, president; Minoru Tanaka, managing director; Yoshiaki Mizutani, director; Kasuo Hamada, managing director

Plants

Shiga, Tokyo, Japan

Processes

Resin bonded, needlepunched, thermal bonded, wetlaid, spunlaced, meltblown tackspun

Major markets

Apparel interlinings, apparel insulations, air filters, plaster bases, automotive mats, automotive headliners, battery electrode separators

Japan Vilene's total sales decreased 14.9% during the year ended March 2009. In terms of departmental sales, apparel and medical materials decreased 7.9% to [yen] 10.5 billion; automotives decreased 18.8% to [yen] 21.6 billion, air filter materials decreased 6.7% to [yen] 8 billion, industrial materials decreased 18.3% to [yen] 8.7 billion and the remaining sales decreased 20.7% to [yen] 1.4 billion. Sales decreased in all areas due to the global economic crisis which began in September 2008.

By region, sales within Japan decreased 12.9% to [yen] 37.9 billion; North America decreased 20.6% to [yen] 12.2 billion and Asia sales (beyond Japan) decreased 17% to [yen] 0.1 billion.

Sales of automotive floor mats in Japan dropped significantly in 2008 on the heels of decreased automobile sales. Also in Japan, demand for floor mat and headliners regressed greatly because of the sudden decrease of automotive output. Owing to these accounts, demand is sluggish in many of the applications for automotives and recovery will not be likely in 2009. Under these circumstances, Japan Vilene estimated that sales this year will decrease 8.4% and as such automotives material sales will decrease 16.7% to [yen] 18 billion.

Despite the economic slump, Japan Vilene is seeing some bright spots including the nonwovens separators in the nickel-metal hydrogen battery used for the hybrid car applications. Demand for these batteries is growing as the hybrid automobile industry grows. However, because the nickel metal hydride batteries might be replaced by lithium ion batteries in hybrid cards, it is uncertain how long this demand will grow. Generally, microporous films are used as separators in lithium ion batteries and the nonwovens have not been used here at all. Still Japan Vilene is pushing forward with the development of a nonwoven separator, which could be applied to the lithium ion battery.

Regarding the demand of covering masks, the business is favorable due to the prevention of swine flu; however, this demand is expected to slow as efforts to stop the spread of this disease wane.

18

Pegas

Znojmo, Czech Republic

www.pegas.cz

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $209 million

Key Personnel

Frantisek Rezac, Chief executive officer; Frantisek Klaska, Technical director; Ales Gerza, Chief financial officer; Rostislav Vrbacky, Production director

Plants

Znojmo, Bucovice, Czech Republic

ISO Status

ISO-9001: 2000, ISO-14001: 2004, ISO-9004:2004

Nonwovens Processes

Spunbond, meltblown, SMS, BiCo

Major Markets

Hygiene, agriculture, healthcare, ecology, furniture, building, protective apparel, industrial

Sales at the Czech Republic-based Pegas increased an impressive 17.1% to 142.8 million [euro] last year thanks to increased usage of its latest nonwovens line, launched in November 2007.

"The launch of the new production line was the most important event for Pegas in respect to the 2008 financial results," said Pegas CEO Frantisek Rezac. "The year-on-year increase in sales and EB1TDA was driven primarily by this new line. The line met expectations and was operating at maximum capacity."

The new line, Pegas' eighth, is a 15,000-ton-per-year, 3.2-meter-wide Reicofil SSMMMS line, which increased its capacity by 28%.

In 2008, EBITDA amounted to 39.5 million [euro], up 2.9% from the previous year as a result of higher sales of finished goods due to the additional production capacity. The main factors negatively impacting the total EBITDA in 2008 were lower sales of materials to the construction industry, the appreciation of the Czech koruna, higher energy costs and margin developments in the European nonwovens market, Mr. Rezac added.

In 2009, earnings growth has increased significantly already, up 33.8% in the first quarter thanks to extremely lower polymer prices, output prices reflecting polymer prices at the higher level and the successful sale of finished good stock held over from the end of 2008.

"However, these three factors will not be repeated in such a positive way in subsequent quarters," he continued." Due to continuing good demand, we are confident that we will maintain both production and sales volumes at good levels for the remainder of 2009.

While Pegas has received a decision concerning investment incentives for a ninth line from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, the final decision on when to build this new line is still subject to market conditions. Mr. Rezac said the final decision should be made in the next couple of months.

"We still see some overcapacity in the (European) market, however the overall situation is very unclear at the moment and therefore any in-depth assessment is not possible. We continue to face the challenges of the market through development of new products, cost control and increases of production efficiency," he said.

Currently, 97% of Pegas' sales are done in Europe, 56% of which are sold in Western Europe. Eighty-seven percent of its total sales are in the hygiene market where Pegas differentiates itself with technologically advanced materials--soft, ultra-lightweight and bicomponent textiles--which are difficult to produce. Other markets for Pegas include medical, construction, agriculture, furniture, wipes etc.

Moving forward, Pegas will continue to focus on technologically advanced materials, fostering close relationships with customers and suppliers, maintaining superior financial performance and monitoring investment opportunities. And, while up to now, all of its output is centered on Reicofil spunmelt lines, the company would not be adverse to diversification if the right technology were presented.

"We achieved significant position on the market using Reicofil technology, however we are closely monitoring the market situation and its trends. If we discover other opportunities, we are ready to react accordingly," Mr. Rezac concluded.

19

Asahi Kasei

Osaka, Japan

www.asahi-kasei.co.jp

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $195 million

Key Personnel

Toshio Takanashi, general manager, nonwoven fabrics division; Katsuhiko Hinamoto, general manager, spunbonded fabric sales; Tetsuya Nakamura, general manger, Bemliese sales

Plants

Moriyama, Nobeoka

Processes

Spunbonded, meltblown

Brand Names

Eltas, Bemliese, Microweb, Semia, Smash, Precise

Major Markets

coverstock, wipes, gauze, packaging, white blood corpuscle removing filters

Asahi Kasei annual production capacity of nonwovens is: SMMS, 13000 tons per year, PP spunbond, 13,000 tons; PET spunbonded nonwovens, 5500 tons; nylon spunbond, 3500 tons; cupra spunbond, 4500 tons; compound spunbond nonwovens (Precise), 2000 tons and meltblown nonwovens, 200 tons.

While earnings decreased in 2008, the situation was not as bad as it could have been because of the defensive nature of one of Asahi's core business, disposable baby diapers. However, demand decreases have been unavoidable so Asahi Kasei has emphasized cost reductions in nonwovens production. Additionally, new product development has been an important future undertaking.

One of these new products, an SMS with PPS as a crude material polymer, was introduced in May 2009. These nonwovens are made by laminating the PPS polymer in three structures through a spunbond/meltblown method. The fiber of the spunbond nonwovens is 2 dtex while that of meltblown is 0.03 dtex and the mass per unit area is 10-200 gsm. A line able to make this material--a couple hundred tons of it--was set up in March 2009 and the development of new end use applications has been promoted. Asahi has also been making SMS from PET under the brand name Precise since 2007 with a capacity of 2000 tons.

As for the SMS, raw and processed materials were diversified from initial PP to PET or PPS, furthermore a new product with newer polymers has been exploited.

Another new product, a nanofiber nonwoven made from cellulose fibers, was released in December 2008. Crude material of these nonwovens is pulp and the average diameter of the nonwovens is 150nm or less; the thickness is 5-20 um and the mass per unit area is possible to be less than 10gsm.

19

Colbond

Arnhem, The Netherlands

www.colbond.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $195 million

Key Personnel

Jan van Boldrik, CEO; Bart Austin, president Colbond Inc.; Harry Verbakel, director sales and marketing floor coverings; Blair Rawes, director sales and marketing construction; Randy Cook, director sales and marketing NAFTA

Plants Emmen and Arnhem, The Netherlands; Obernburg, Germany; Asheville, NC

ISO Status

Global certification for all plants ISO 9001:2008

Processes

Extruded, spunbond, thermal bonded and specialties

Brand Names

Colback, Enkamat, Enkadrain, Colbonddrain, Enkagrid, Enka-Spacer, Enka-Channel, EnkaRetain & Drain

Major Markets

Flooring, automotive, construction, civil engineering, building and various industrial applications

Against a background of a difficult overall macroeconomic situation, a key achievement for Colbond in 2008 was holding nonwoyen roll good sales steady and bringing in revenues similar to those achieved in 2007. At the end of the first half of the year, 2008 looked promising with Colbond having grown its business in most core markets. However, things took a turn when the North American building industry was hit by the housing crisis fallout. During the remainder of the year, other segments were also impacted on a global scale by what was to become a worldwide economic downturn.

On both sides of the Atlantic, the company's 2008 flooring business suffered from weak market demand for floor coverings resulting from the postponed construction of retail and office space. Colback primary backings for tufted carpet tiles, broadloom carpet and walk-off mats all saw declines. "Our leadership in environmentally sustainable backings, along with Colback's unique performance benefits, were key to limiting the impact of the economic downturn on our turnover in flooring," stated Jan van Boldrik, CEO.

Meanwhile the economic slowdown and loss of consumer confidence caused a substantial reduction of light vehicle production and negatively affected Colbond's sales volumes in the automotive industry, where it sells Colback primary and secondary backings for molded car carpets. "However, with Colback Pro, a nonwoven enabling carpet manufacturers to realize cost savings, we managed to significantly increase marketshare," he said.

In the construction industry, Colbond's sales of Colback reinforcement for waterproof bituminous roofing membranes were affected to some extent by the overall market trend toward declining demand for carrier materials. In response to trends in its key markets, Colbond has initiated a broad project portfolio to optimize existing manufacturing processes. The company has also further developed its technology base for the production of new products.

Recent product innovations in the flooring area include significant extensions to its range of post-consumer recycled content versions of Colback, which are designed to comply with the industry's growing demand for environmentally sustainable products. "All standard carpet tile backings are now available with recycled polyester," Mr. van Boldrik said. "The characteristics and performance of the finished nonwoven are the same as those of virgin raw material products." He added that the new product range is helping carpet manufacturers gain an additional foothold in sustainable market segments while increasing the efficiency of internal workflows. Development work for a number of other product innovations for tufting end uses is also underway.

In the automotive sector, where cost control is more important than ever all along the supply chain, Colbond has recently invested additional resources to further optimize Colback Pro, a primary backing for tufted car carpet for complex geometries at reduced molding costs. "This investment has started to pay off as we significantly improved our position and gained share in the European automotive market," he said.

As for Colbond's efforts in the waning constTuction industry-where the market for waterproof bituminous roofing membranes has been hit hard by the worldwide economic crisis--lightweight high performance Colback carriers have helped Colbond defend its position in an increasingly price-competitive environment. "The market is shrinking," he observed, "and no turnaround is expected soon."

Colbond is seeing positive developments in the civil engineering market, which has been the company's strongest segment so far in 2009. While all other markets experienced a slow-down as a result of the economic crisis, many geosynthetics players are taking advantage of the governmental funding of infrastructural projects. In particular, sales of Enkagrid geogrids for soil stabilization (for example, in road construction and foundations) are exceeding last year's performance. In North America the company is increasingly penetrating the geogrid market by partnering with a new distribution partner.

Following in-depth process optimization, Colbond's new Enkamat line is running smoothly and allows Colbond to offer three-dimensional polymeric monofilament mats in widths up to 2.4 meters. "Civil engineering customers are taking advantage of the wider products as they reduce on-site installation costs,'explained Mr. van Boldrik, adding that testing in new building and industrial applications is underway.

Colbond has also launched several product innovations for civil engineering applications this year. One such roll-out is Enkamat J, an erosion prevention mat specifically designed to protect slopes under extreme erosive risks from rainfall or flooding. According to Colbond, Enkamat J has been well received and the first major order has been secured in France. The product is currently in the tender phase for major erosion control projects across Europe.

Product innovations for industrial applications include a new version of Enka-Channel, a resin flow medium for the production of yachts. Consisting of a monofilament spacer matrix wrapped in a nonwoven fabric, Enka-Channel acts as a feeder speeding up the distribution of resin across glass fiber and is designed to increase the productMty of yacht manufacturing. "Customer feedback has been very positive," he said, "and we expect sales of Enka-Channel to take off as soon as the overall macroeconomic situation improves."

Wrapping up, Mr. van Boldrik predicted that environmental sustainability of processes and products will be an increasingly important theme. "The minimization of waste and emission levels, the optimization of energy consumption, the replacement of virgin raw materials with recycled content as well as the development of environmentally friendly products will remain an integral part of our short- and long-term growth strategy," he concluded.

21

Propex Holdings

Chattanooga, GA

www.propex.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $175 million

Key Personnel

Start Brant, president and CEO, Martin deVries, executive vice president and chief financial officer

Plants

Ringgold, GA

Process

Needlepunch

Major Markets

Geosynthetics, flooring, furniture and bedding, automotive, agriculture, laminates, vinyl substrates, sorbents Under new ownership this year is Propex Holdings (formerly Propex Inc.), a Chattanooga, TN based maker of needlepunched nonwovens for a variety of industries. After voluntarily filing for Chapter 11 bank ruptcy protection in January 2008, Propex was purchased by a fund managed by Wayzata Investment Partners, a Minneapolis, MN pfi vate equity firm in April 2009.

Under the name Propex Holdings, the company continues to aggressively pursue business opportunities in existing markets--which include geosynthetics, flooring, furniture and bedding, automotives, agriculture, laminates, vinyl substrates and sorbents. In connection with the sale, Propex has permanently shed more than $380 million of debt and long term liabilities.

Stan Brant is leading the company as president and chief executive. He most recently served as the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Propex., responsible for directing all of the company's geosynthetic, concrete, furnishing and industrial fabrics and fiber manufacturing activities. He replaced Wood McGee who served as president and CEO for one year with the chief objective of help ing the company emerge from bankruptcy protection.

Propex was formed in December 2004 when a group of investors led by Houston-based The Sterling Group, L.R, San Francisco-based Genstar Capital, L.P. and Houston-based Laminar Direct Capital, L.E, purchased BP Amoco's Fabric and Fibers unit. It makes woven and nonwoven materials for the geotextiles, furniture, carpet backing and automotives markets.

The company became significantly larger in January 2006 when it purchased fellow needlepunch manufacturer SI Corporation, including its SI Concrete Systems Corporation and SI Geosolutions Corporation divisions. At the time, the company said the purchase was in sync with its intention to create a highly diversified and balanced company, which will become the best of the best.

Not long afterwards, Propex decided to consolidate its operations, closing the Seneca, SC plant as part of a restructuring and consolidation plan involving its U.S. needlepunch nonwovens manufacturing activities. Seneca manufacturing assets were relocated to Propex's facility in Ringgold, GA, which was formerly owned by SI Corporation.

22

Jacob Holm

Basel, Switzerland

www, jacob-holm.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $172 million

Key Personnel

Poul Mikkelsen, chairman; Stephen Landon, president and COO; Finn Schoning, group controller; Chip Holton, vice president operations USA; Alain Heberle, plant manager France; Craig DePorter, director of marketing and business development Europe; Alexis Porcher, global commercial manager; Jean-Francois De Gruttola, key account director; Ginny Casstevens, sales director--Americas; Amel Sediri, marketing

Plants

Asheville, NC; Soultz, France.

Processes

Hydroentangling (including standard & specialty applications)

Brand Names

Lidro, Rough N Soft, TAU

Major Markets

Personal Care, Home Care, Hygiene, Packaging, Special & Technical industrial applications

Growth in the wipes market as well as that market's continued conversion to spunlaced nonwovens has allowed Jacob Holm to continue its pattern of sales growth. The Swiss manufacturer of spunlaced nonwovens reported sales grew 7.5% to $172 million last year after growing from $104 million the year before.

"We see moderate growth in wipes plus significant growth in spun lace applications for wipes in North America, and we are seeing significant growth for the wipes market in general as well as more conversion from airlald in Eastern Europe," explained CEO Stephen Landon.

With bragging rights on the world's largest spunlace line, located in Asheville, NC, Jacob Holm reported that about $78 million of these sales were conducted in the U.S. The company is poised to expand its presence in North America thanks to new contracts in Mexico as well as a deal in the feminine hygiene market in Canada.

About $94 million in sales is done in Europe, where Jacob Holm has a sizeable spunlace business in Soultz, France. This business is not growing as quickly because the wipes business of Western Europe as its conversion to spunlace is already complete. Instead, Jacob Holm is betting on growth in Eastern Europe where wipes are growing quickly as is spunlaced nonwovens' penetration into existing wipes markets.

Currently, about 80% of Jacob Holms European sales are related to wipes, a percentage the company is okay with. However, Mr. Landon said he would like to see this part of the business more diversified into more valued added wipe areas, which is the case already in North America where wipes represent 70% of sales.

Jacob Holm's five meter-wide U.S. spunlace line, added in 2006, is capable of making nonwovens with a range of raw material and in varying different basis weights, mostly for the premium wipes market. In fact, it is this line's success in attracting long-term, high volume premium businesses that has contributed to Jacob Holm's impressive growth during the past two years. "High volumes don't necessarily mean low technology, but we do want to run our machines for long campaign times. We want a balanced mix of customers and products," Mr. Landon said.

"The next step in the U.S. will be a second line, to be approved probably later this year or early next year and operational in 2011. We are thinking it will be a complementary line to the first line, "he said. "The emphasis will be on quicker changeovers and shorter run times."

After that will come a third line--probably five years from now-offering complementary technology to spunlace, Mr. Landon continued adding there are still many segments of the wipes market still open to Jacob Holm. "Household wipes has not even been fully explored by Jacob Holm in the U.S.," he said.

23

Vita Nonwovens

Manchester, U.K.

www.britishvita.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $170 million

Key Personnel

Joe Menendez, Vita Group CEO Wim Warnier, Vita Nonwovens CEO

Plants

Belgium, France, Sweden, U.S.

ISO Status

ISO 9001:2000; ISO /TS 16949

Processes

Drylaid, chemical bonded, drylaid thermal bonded, needlefelt, through air bonded, impregnation

Sales decreased from $190 million to $170 million in 2008 for Vita Nonwovens, Manchester, U.K., largely due to the impact of the economic downtown in the second quarter 2008. Despite these troubles, the company continues to report growth in the healthcare and filtration divisions in Europe and the bedding and furniture markets in the U.S.

This growth is expected to continue thanks to the completion of a new line--geared toward technical markets--which was recently installed in the U.S. Vita Nonwovens continues to operates three North American sites in Fort Wayne IN, San Antonio, TX and High Point, NC, which are reportedly fully utilized. "Vita Nonwovens North America is responding to the downturn in the economy by instituting a strategy for nonwovens that includes being sensitive to market changes and responsive to customers' needs," said a company spokesman..

Despite dismal market conditions in the U.S. last year, the company reported growth in this market, investment in its employees and plants are still the focus for retaining its preeminent position.

Meanwhile, the company's European sites, operated through its Libeltex subsidiary in France and Belgium, are serving novelty health care applications while continuing to work on innovative product development solutions in hygiene, filtration and furniture and bedding.

Vita Nonwovens closed its U.K. plants a few years ago to narrow its focus on North American and Western and Eastern Europe. Speaking of Eastern Europe, executives reported less reduction in demand in this emerging markets than in Western Europe and the U.S., which were affected by de-stocking, particularly in automotive, construction and furniture and bedding. "The biggest impact has been in the automotive sector where low demand for new cars has been exacerbated by the car manufacturers' high stock levels," said the spokesman. As a division, our exposure to this market is limited and therefore has not had a dramatic impact on our business."

Still, Vita has had to institute a number of cost-cutting measures throughout its business. During the fourth quarter, these initiatives impacted its employment as reductions were made in temporary jobs or through voluntary redundancy.

Moving forward, the company plans to concentrate its activities in core regions in North America and Europe. Future plans in 2009 through 2010 call for entrance into new product and market segments. "We continue to believe that nonwovens haven't reached their full market potential yet. Changing attitudes with regard to environment, health and well being are creating inroads into new market segments."

The focus for future growth will continue to come from the company's core product groups in hygiene, automotive, filtration and other technical industrial applications.

"Our research and development teams are closely linked to our commercial team to ensure that development applications bring increased value to our customers."

24

Toyobo

Tokyo, Japan

www.toyobo.co.jp

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $163 million

Key Personnel

Yuuji Taneda, general manager, spunbond division of Toyobo; Yukio Kawasaki, president of Kureha

Plants

Tsuruga, Iwakuni, Shiga

Brand Names

Volans, Ecule, Bonden, Kurelock, Kurehalock, Dynac

Major Markets

Geotextiles, roofing sheets, carpet backings, automotive interiors, automotive filters, needlepunch carpets, hot melt bonding sheets, plaster bases

Toyobo produces 14,000 tons of PET spunbond nonwovens per year and its OEM production has been entrusted to a Chinese PET spunbonded nonwovens maker since spring 2007 for the manufacture of automotive materials. Additionally, Kureha, Toy obo's subsidiary, produces resin bonded, needlepunched, thermal bonded and spunbond nonwovens with a capacity of about 7000 tons per year. Its other subsidiary Yuho makes needlepunched, spunlaced and stitchbonded nonwovens with a capacity of 3000 tons per year.

As for the PET spunbonded nonwovens of Toyobo, about 30-40% of this material targets the automotives business and Kureha's business is about 60% related to automotives, meaning that Toyobo is quite dependent on this market. As this market has undergone significant decreases so has Toyobo's income.

That said, Toyobo has defended itself by improving its nonwoyen products. The company's policy is to focus on the development of added-value properties to raise the processing percentage of the raw materials by strengthening the cooperation with the group enterprises. In addition, Toyobo intends to move forward with the development of new applications for spunbonded nonwovens by integrating new polymers into its processes. This has opened up new applications, namely nonwovens with stretch properties which have already been developed and mass production should be underway by the end of 2009. Furthermore, Toyobo's strategy of enhancing manufacturing efficiency and quality, has been achieved by upgrading older equipment and facilities. Meanwhile, the crude oil prices and business fluctuations have been intensive in the market.

25

Mitsui Chemical

Tokyo, Japan

www.mitsuichem.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $155 million

Key Personnel

Haruhiro Uesugi, general manager, life and energy materials division

Plants

Japan, Thailand

Processes

Spunbonded, needlepunched, meltblown, thermal bonded

Brand Names

Tafnel, Syntex

Major Markets

Coverstock, geotextiles, oil absorbing materials, air filters, wipes, agriculture materials, household materials.

Mitsui Chemicals' annual production capacity of nonwovens is 64,000 tons per year at its sites in Japan and Thailand. Among its output is polypropylene spunbonded nonwovens, SMS and SMMS.

In 2008, the company's nonwovens sales increased, partly because of its role in the diaper market. In particular, demand in Thailand and China is driving growth. Mitsui is partially serving this demand with a new 16,000-ton spunmelt line at its MHM facility in Thailand, which began operating in January 2008. MHM also makes microporous films for the diaper market with an annual capacity of 6000 tons per year and can supply a back-sheet film for diapers, which is laminated nonwovens with microporous films. About 80% of MHM's output is exported.

MHM has been making nonwovens since March 2003 and since then has grown to comprise a significant share of Mitsui's nonwovens operation. Currently, this operation makes nearly the same amount of nonwovens as the Japanese business and the cost competitiveness is much stronger than it is in Japan. Additionally, growth prospects within Asia and China are much stronger than in Japan.

26

Georgia-Pacific

Atlanta, GA

www.gp.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $150 million

Plants

Green Bay, WI (two facilities); Avigliano, Italy

Processes

Airlaid, carded

Brand Names

Airtex, Dritex

Major Markets

Baby wipes, industrial and food service wipes, feminine hygiene, absorbent core, tabletop, medical, moist toilet tissue, meat packaging

Under new ownership is Georgia-Pacific. In November 2005, the company was purchased by Koch Industries, a multinational conglomerate that had already owned G-P's cellulose business as well as fiber producer Invista, among other things.

Meanwhile, G-P's nonwovens business, which centers on airlaid technology, has continued to perform well by focusing on improving its production and reducing costs despite challenging raw material prices. According to reports, G-P's nonwovens group continues to be a major supplier of airlaid for wet wipes, particularly in tubs and flexible packages. Containing about 80% cellulose content, airlaid is considered to be more Earth-friendly than nonwovens based on synthetic fibers. The group continues to work on new resin binder systems that may have implications for the latest bathroom and other category wipes.

G-P has a history of success in unearthing new market segments for its airlaid technology that had been using other materials. These markets were typically using technology that was more expensive than airlaid but G-P was able to show how pulp can perform just as well at a lower cost, according to executives.

27

Toray Saehan

Seoul, Korea

www.toraysaehan.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $144 million

Plant Locations

Gumi, Kyungsang Bukdo, South Korea; Nantong, JIangsu Province, China

ISO Status

ISO-9001: 2009; ISO-14001 (environmental certification): 2004; ISO-18001 (operational certification): 2007

Key Personnel

Y.K. Lee, president and CEO; Y.K. Kim, senior vice president; Yasuhiko Tanabe, senior vice president; J.N. Kim, president of TPN; W.C. Hwang, director of TPN

Processes

Spunbond PP (SS, SSS, SMS, SMMS and bicomponent), PET (embossed and needlepunched)

Brand Names

Livsen (PP/PET)

Major Markets

Hygiene, medical and protective markets, industrial specialties, agricultural, upholstery, filtration, PP/PE bicomponents, geotextiles

Spunbond specialist Toray Saehan, Inc. (TSI), a joint venture company of Japan-based Toray Industries and Saehan of Korea, earned $144 million in nonwoven roll goods sales in 2008. The company achieved an impressive 20% jump in sales over 2007 based on Korean won, which it attributes to a substantial hike in selling prices in 2008 due to unstable raw material pricing as well as the benefit of exchange rate improvements.

While sales from its Toray Polytech Nantong (TPN) Chinese subsidiary represented $17 million of its roll goods total last year, TSI's portion of the business generated $127 million in nonwovens revenue (17% of TSI's total turnover). With approximately 75% of products targeting hygiene markets around the globe, TSI represents 5% of Toray Group's overall sales.

In terms of the company's geographic sales breakdown, sales to Korea totaled $55 million in 2008, Japanese market sales were $25 million, sales in China represented $17 million and other regions totaled $47 million last year. TSI exports nearly half (47%) of goods from its Seoul, Korea base versus TPN's output, which exclusively targets local Chinese markets.

While conditions in the Asian nonwovens industry were tolerable in the second half of 2008, TSI reported that rapid declines in the third quarter impacted its business substantially. In fact, the all-time high cost of polypropylene resin decreased profits to the point that many spunbond makers (Including TSI) placed all plans for expansions and new investments on hold. This holding pattern kept TSI's annual capacity steady at 54,000 tons while TPN's spunbond output in China was 18,000 tons on its new Reifenhauser SXMMS 4.2 meter line, which reached full capacity levels in July. A firm decision on when TPN will add a second multi-beam production line is expected in October, but for now production is slated to begin in early 2011. According to the company, the move is part of a strategy to make the most of ongoing baby diaper market growth in China.

For the future, TSI plans to continue to promote new SMMS bicomponent (PP/PE) and copolymer-based nonwovens featuring improved softness for hygiene and specialty medical end uses. Other key goals for the company are developing additional value-added, specialty products and expanding the stabilization of TPN's second beam.

28

Union Industries

Masserano, Italy

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $143 million

Key Personnel

Matteo Moltrasio, vice president; Luigi Cassano, managing director; Alessandro Taramasso, commercial director

Plant

Masserano, Biella, Italy

ISO Status since 1997

ISO 9001:2008; renewed in 2009

Processes

Spunbond, spunbond-meltblown, carded thermal bond

Brand Name

Spundouce

Major Markets

Hygiene, wipes, medical, agriculture, industrial

Sales increased from $133 million to $143 million for Italian nonwovens producer Union Industries as the company's production lines were better utilized.

The Masserano-based company is investing in a 5.2 meter Reicofil spunmelt line which will add 24,000 tons per year and bring its total throughput to 84,000 tons per year. The new line, featuring SSMMMS technology, is expected to start up during the third quarter of next year.

According to executives at the Masserano, Italy nonwovens producer, the decision to build a new line was driven by Union's goal of supplying the hygiene and medical nonwovens market with high quality, ultra-lightweight nonwovens. While executives admit there is some overcapacity in the European hygiene market, they said they feel that investing in new technology will give Union Industries the necessary advantage to succeed.

"We believe that with this new asset we could offer the market an advanced generation of spunmelt material," said vice president Matteo Moltrasio. "The goal is to obtain and give better performances and at the same time to give a savings to the market. Moreover, we assume we could explore other fields of application.

Currently 90% of Union Industries' nonwovens output is exported outside of Italy, chiefly to Europe and the Middle East.

Union Industries' most recent investment was a Reicofil 4 SSS system, a 4.2 meter that came onstream at the end of 2006, bringing the company's total capacity to 60,000 tons per year. All of the company's current spunbonded manufacturing assets are based on Reicofil technology.

29

Andrew Industries Group

Manchester U.K.

www.andrewindustries.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $130 million

Plants

South Carolina, China, U.K.

Processes

Needlepunch, thermal bonded and chemical finishes

Brand Names

Fiberlox, Microfelt, Checkstatic and Pleatlox

Major Markets

Filtration, Technical Felts and Laundry products

After reporting a record year in fiscal 2008, Andrew Industries, a maker of needlepunched nonwovens for filtration media, said its sales declined slightly to $130 million for the year ended March 2009, in large part due to the global economic downturn during the second half of the year.

How much the economic downturn impacted its business varies by region, said Danny Grover, president of Southern Felt, Andrew's U.S. subsidiary. "Our global nonwovens division has experienced a 15% downturn in North America, a 12% downturn in Europe and a 20% upturn in the Asia-Pacific. Overall year-on-year the division's sales and earnings have remained much the same."

Andrew Industries Group, through its subsidiaries in the U.S., China and the U.K., specializes in needlepunched felts largely targeted at the baghouse filter market. Founded 114 years ago, the company established its U.S. subsidiary, Southern Felt in 1988. Five years ago, it expanded into Asia with the establishment of Andrew Industrial Textile Manufacturing Company in Shanghai, China.

According to Mr. Grover, demand for products in China and the Asia-Pacific region continues to grow overall at 20% with exceptional growth coming from power generation, steel, aluminum, cement and asphalt. Andrew added a second filter felt production line in China in March this year and plans to install a third line within the next three years.

"This second line, made in Germany, is the most modem filter felt production line anywhere in the world at this time," Mr. Grover explained.

Despite this growth, earnings were hurt by the global shortage of meta aramid fibers as new Chinese entrants to the meta aramid fiber market destabilized the filter felt marketplace.

Meanwhile, Southern Felt's $6 million investment in a new German high temperature chemical treatment and thermal stabilization line in South Carolina proved to be well timed as demand for PPS felts in the power generating sector increased. The expansion added 375,000 linear yards of needlepunch felts for the filtration market monthly.

Another major investment--this time in Europe--in a line that makes felts from PTFE fiber is also planned for the near term. This is led by growing demand for products in the incineration center. Decreasing PTFE pricing has made these fibers more economically viable in segments requiring high temperature and chemically resistant performance.

In terms of regional growth, now that Andrew has conquered China, the next step will be expansion in India with a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. Unlike, China where the company makes filter bag materials, the India site will be run similarly to the Southern Felt operation which manufactures filter felt in roll goods to support the filter bag fabricating industry.

In December 2008, Andrew sold its Canadian filter bag fabricating subsidiary, Filterfab, to the National Filter Media Corporation of Salt Lake City, UT, because as NAFTA developed, Filterfab increasingly came into competition with Southern Felt Company's filter bag fabricating customers in NAFTA and this conflict of interest needed to be eliminated.

In recent years, other divestments have included the closure of Eastern Felt and Northern Felt in Rhode Island and Canada, respectively, and the consolidation of Slater Felt in Missouri into its South Carolina operation. Andrew also consolidated its two U.K. business units into one operation.

According to Mr. Grover, the company's size is fine as it is. "For the time being we have more manufacturing capacity than demand for our products, but one benefit of this temporary situation is that our manufacturing efficiencies are improved which helps maintain margins," he said, adding that he is confident that Andrew will easily weather the economic downturn.

"Our nonwovens division is very focused on the filtration sector and the three economic regions of North America, Europe and Asia Pacific in which we operate give us a good model to ensure that we come out of this global economic downturn in good shape and ready to respond to an upturn."

30

Lydall

Manchester, CT

www.lydall.com

2008 nonwovens sales: $112 million

Key Personnel

W. Leslie Duffy, chairman of the board; Dale Barnhart, president and CEO; Thomas Smith, vice president, CFO and treasurer; Mona Estey, vice president--Human Resources; Mary Tremblay, vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary; Peter Kurto, vice president--Business Development; Kevin Longe, president, Performance Materials; Joseph Wilsted, president, Automotive; Peter Ferris, president, Charter Medical, Ltd.

Plants

Rochester, NH; Saint Rivalain, France; Winston-Salem, NC; Hamptonville, NC; Green Island, NY; Ossipee, NH; Meinerzhagen, Germany; Saint-Nazaire, France; Maastricht, The Netherlands

Major Markets

Thermal and acoustical shields and insulation, high-efficiency air and liquid filtration media, bioprocessing and specialty blood and cell therapy products.

Major Brand Names

Biotherm, Capraton, CELL-FREEZE, Clear-PakT, CRS Wrap, CryoLite dBLyte, Freeze-PakT, LydAir MG, LydAir MB, LydAir SC, LyPore Defender, LyPore MB, LyPore SC, LyPore XL, Lythenn, ManniGlas, Solupor Membrane, ZeroClearance, ZeroClearance In-Tack

During 2008 Lydall made significant changes to its structure to strengthen its core businesses. Lydall began to implement a strategy to understand the growth markets served within Lydall's businesses and match the underserved market needs with Lydall's capabilities. "We are focusing on markets that have higher growth rates and products that we expect will generate higher gross margin percentages for us in the future," commented CEO Dale Barnhart.

The four pillars of Lydall's growth strategy include: organic growth from new product development; geographic expansion into Asia and Europe; Lydall Lean Six Sigma (LLSS) to continually improve operating performance resulting in revenue and income growth; and acquisition of product lines and/or businesses that participate in identified growth markets.

At the consolidated level, overall sales at Lydall for 2008 were $306 million, of which 23% were nonwoven roll goods. At $112 million, Performance Materials segment sales increased by $3 million in 2008 compared to 2007. Contributing to this increase were higher net sales of industrial thermal insulation products of $1 million, partially offset by a decrease of $0.5 million to $70.5 million in net sales of filtration media. As result of the global economic downturn, many of Lydall's filtration customers adjusted downward their production schedules and the amount of products purchased from the company in order to reduce their current levels of inventory.

Within Lydall's Industrial Thermal Insulation business, sales hit the $41 million mark in 2008, an increase resulting from increased energy and industrial products sales and partially offset by a drop in demand for building and appliance insulation products. Sales for energy and industrial products increased due to strong demand in the electrical markets as well as increased net sales to manufacturers of cryogenic equipment for liquid gas storage and transportation. Due to an economic recession in the U.S. impacting the new home and commercial buildings construction markets, the company's sales of building and appliance insulation products decreased during 2008.

In terms of capital investments at its Performance Materials Segment, Lydall is purchasing new equipment to enhance engineered products for the appliance industry. "We expect this equipment will allow us greater design flexibility, resulting in access to new markets for our appLY Mat appliance insulation product," said Mr. Barnhart. He added that new product line extensions of appLY Mat are enabling Lydall to penetrate both thermal and acoustical applications in residential and commercial appliances. Beyond capital improvements, Lydall is also expanding its business through acquisition activity. As a result of its purchase of DSM Solutech B.V. last year, Lydall's portfolio now includes Solupor specialty microporous membrane technology, which has been integrated into its Performance Materials business. The first product developed from Solupor is Arioso, a high performance air filtration composite media that offer durability, high permeability and chemical inertness.

"Arioso has generated a tremendous amount of interest from our existing customers as well as from potential customers in new markets," commented Mr. Barnhart. Arioso expands Lydall's product offerings in its established high purity air markets and provides a competitive advantage in other sectors such as dust collection, air pollution control, respiratory face masks and vacuum cleaners.

In commenting on Lydall's acquisition of DSM Solutech, Mr. Barnhart said that Lydall "will pursue an acquisition opportunity when it aligns with our strategic roadmap. Adding high performance products like membranes to our portfolio was a perfect fit with our technology plan. Solupor has a number of unique attributes that differentiate it from other membranes due to its structure that is similar to a nonwoven."

In fluid power and transportation filtration markets, Lydall is advancing current performance boundaries of microglass media with the introduction of LyPore Defender hydraulic and lube grades and LyPore Unity coalescing grades. "The main goal with both product lines is to deliver extended filter life, which results in product differentiation for our customers and cost savings for their customers," explained Mr. Barnhart.

In the life science area, LyPore Clarity is Lydall's new product line of binderless microglass media used for lateral-flow diagnostics testing and laboratory/analytical markets that demand purity, consistency and reliability.

As for its Thermal/Acoustical business, Lydall is underway with plans to close its St. Johnsbury, VT manufacturing facility and consolidate its North American automotive parts production into its Hamptonville, NC operation. The consolidation is expected to reduce operating costs significantly, increase efficiency and enhance the company's competitive position while maintaining essentially the same level of manufacturing capacity. The company commenced the transfer of equipment and production in the first quarter of 2009 and is currently substantially complete with the consolidation. Beginning in the latter part of 2009, Lydall expects to start to benefit from reduced fixed overhead and selling, product development and administrative expenses as a result of the consolidation.

31

Suominen

Nakkila, Finland

www.suominen.fi

2008 nonwovens sales: $107 million

Key Personnel

Petri Rolig, president and CEO of Suominen Corporation; Paul-Erik Toivo, vice president and general manager of Suominen Wiping; Mads Kiilerich, director operations of Suominen Nonwovens; Margareta Hulden, director products

Nonwovens Plants

Nakkila, Finland

ISO Status

ISO 9001; 14001 environmental certification

Processes

Hydroentangled, thermal bonded

Brand names

Fibrella, Biolace, Novelin

Reporting a slight sales decline was Finland's Suominen Nonwovens, a maker of spunlaced and thermal bonded nonwovens. While deliveries of thermal bonded hygiene materials as well as demand for wound care products increased, sales of spunlaced nonwovens felt pressure from North American suppliers.

Despite this, the company describes the spunlace market as encouraging. "The demand for our premium products was satisfactory," said vice president and general manager Paul-Erik Toivo. "We could benefit from our long-time focus is on innovation and quality, partly offsetting the impact for the general slowdown in the marks during the last quarter of 2008."

Suominen Nonwovens has responded to these slowdowns by streamlining its product portfolio, launching new valued added production and producing only against customer orders. Helping more so, Mr. Toivo explained is the long-term growth trajectory present in the wipes market. "Our customers are actively exploring new solutions and concepts in many segments, accordingly we see our business developing favorably also in the future."

The bulk of Suominen's spunlace output targets the wipes market and the company has chosen to play on the high end of this market with innovative products. One of these is Biolace, Suominen's 100% biodegradable spunlace material launched two years ago, which continues to do well as things like sustainability and environmental friendliness are becoming increasingly important for everyone. "As a responsible producer, our aim is to provide customers and end users with products that meet their demands while using all raw materials and other sources as efficiently as possible. We also work hard to reduce the amount of energy and water used in our production processes and we recycle our waste. Our customers share our vision for a more eco-friendly future."

Other innovations include price competitive spunlace with reasonably lower basis weights as well as launches of new materials in Suominen's Fibrella spunlace range based on proprietary customer projects. "Quality will be further emphasized in our business proposition," said Mr. Toivo. "Our state-of-the art pilot lines are highly appreciated by our customers and a core element in our joint innovation efforts."

The other portion of Suominen's business, thermal bonded nonwovens, falls under the Novelin brand name. These nonwovens serve markets as a surface material in a variety of hygiene products. While marketshare in general been declining in Europe for the past several years, sales have been stable in 2008 and Suominen is exploring new applications for its thermal bonded products."

"The production process at Suominen Nonwovens is constantly developed and our cost-base is continuously streamlined. Recently-made investments to our production lines have improved our cost competitiveness further," said Mr. Toivo. "All this, in conjunction with our strive for innovation and increased customer proximity, makes us well positioned for profitable growth."

32

Fitesa

Gravatai, Brazil

www.fitesa.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $103 million

Plants

Gravatai, Brazil; North America

Process

Spunmelt, meltblown

Major Markets

Hygiene, medical, industrial, filtration, sorbents

This is the last year Brazilian nonwovens producer Fitesa will appear in the top company report. The company merged its assets with Fiberweb's North American business in a joint venture earlier this summer. From now on, the group's results will be included in Fiberweb's profile (see page 44).

"Because combining Fiberweb's spunbond plants in Washougal, WA, Queretaro, Mexico and Simpsonville, as well as Fitesa's site in Gravatai, Brazil, the joint venture will create a leading producer of spunbond in the Americas with the potential to serve regional and global customers more effectively from its leading asset and technology base," said Cleber dos Santos, sales manager and vice president," the investment is targeted to meet the growing demand for sophisticated and ultra lightweight fabrics in North America. By combining the asset base and technology know-how, the joint venture will be able to achieve its value proposition in the short-term."

The new joint venture company is the second largest maker of spunmelt nonwovens in the Americas with an estimated $200 million combined sales. Included in the deal is a previously announced Fitesa North American operation. This $120 million investment represents a two-line spunmelt operation in Laurens County, SC. When Fitesa announced these two lines in 2008, it said the first line would be complete in October 2009; however, more recent estimates put the startup in late 2010.

In Brazil, Fitesa operates several spunmelt lines targeting hygiene applications as well as two meltblown lines targeting the filtration and sorbents markets. Currently, about 55-60% of its sales are targeted domestically; export regions include North America, Latin America, Europe and Africa. While the North American operation-combined with the Fiberweb partnership will help the company gain exposure to U.S. customers, the company continues to see potential in its home region.

"Latin America keeps demand for nonwovens at an ascending rate, but not at the same rate observed in 2008," Mr. dos Santos said. "There is a large opportunity in the hygiene and medical business in the region, once the penetration is low. For example, the baby diaper penetration in Brazil is around 35%.

33

Royal TenCate

Linz, Austria

www.tencate.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $102 million

Key Personnel

Wally Moore, CEO; Rich McLeod, director sales marketing, Jean Pasqual Mermet, marketing director; Jan-Willem Heezen, marketing director; Gunter Froschauer, marketing director; Cor Roozemond, vice president of product supply, Christian Korn, vice president of finance; Martin Gritter, vice president of human resources

Plants

Linz, Austria; Bezons, France; Almelo, The Netherlands

ISO Status

ISO 9001:2000

Processes

Spunbond, needlepunch and hydroentanglement

Brand Names

TenCate Polyfelt, TenCate Bidim, TenCate Geolon, TenCate Nicolon, TenCate Geotube Systems

Major Market

Geosynthetics

Checking in this year at number 33 is TenCate Geosynthetics Europe, a company that continues to enjoy its strategic position in European civil engineering and construction markets. TenCate supplies an array of geosynthetic products to Europe, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Near and Middle East and Africa. Under the ownership of Royal TenCate, TenCate Geosynthetics has locations in North America, Europe and Asia, and consists of two commercial divisions--TenCate Geosynthetics and TenCate Industrial Fabrics.

TenCate Geosynthetics' commercial division serves the geosynthetics industry with three brands in Europe: TenCate Polyfelt, TenCate Bidim and TenCate Miragrid. The company supplies turnkey system solutions for road and railway constructions, retaining structures, hydraulic constructions, embankments, tunnel construction, pipeline construction, landfills and shoreline protection/marine structure construction markets. Its high performance geosynthetics perform functions such as separation, filtration, soil reinforcement, erosion protection, sealing, stress relief, adhesive bonding, confinement and drainage.

TenCate's Industrial Fabrics commercial division serves the industrial fabrics market with four brands in Europe: TenCate Geotube, TenCate Aquagrid, TenCate Nicolon and TenCate TopTex. Markets include dewatering, water management, aquaculture, agriculture, building and industrial.

Nonwovens continue to play a vital role for the company, rep resenting more than half of overall sales. Its European nonwovens capacity remains at 30,000 tons, with a 70%/30% split between needlepunched and hydroentanglement technologies.

TenCate Geosynthetics' main export markets have traditionally been within the European Union, including the new EU candidates. Other neighboring countries such as CIS, the Near and Middle East (especially the Golf area and Turkey) and the other Eastern European countries are important as well.

In Australia, where parent company TenCate operated a geosynthetics joint venture, the company has decided to sell its 50% interest in Geofabrics Australasia, based in Cheltenham, Australia. TenCate sold its stake to Noel P Hunt International for AUD 40 million (approximately 23 million [euro]); the 11 [euro] profit on the sale will be incorporated in the half-year 2009 figures of TenCate.

TenCate acquired its 50% stake in 2005 through its takeover of Austrian roll goods supplier Polyfelt. Noel P Hunt International was already a joint shareholder in Geofabrics Australasia. Given the strong worldwide market position and the integration of Polyfelt into the geosynthetics activities of TenCate, the equity participation in Geofabrics Australasia, without majority control, is not seen by TenCate as strategic. Agreements have reportedly been reached with the company concerning the continuation of a commercial cooperation.

34

Precision Custom Coatings

Totowa, NJ

www.pcc-usa.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $100 million

Key Personnel

Peter Longo, chairman and COO; Scott Tesser, president and CEO; Rich Noble, CFO and treasurer; Dan Kamat, vice president, Industrial Textile Division; Shaile Dusaj, director industrial marketing and sales; Keith Martin, industrial business manager; Gerry Welkley, national sales manager

Plant Location

Totowa, NJ

Processes

Needlepunch, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, heat activated adhesive coatings, specialty finishes

ISO Status

ISO 9002:2000 (March 2001)

Major Markets

Apparel interlinings, automotive fabrics, medical, fabric softener substrates, furniture and bedding, filtration, vinyl substrates, home furnishings, wipes, hygiene, footwear, roofing and construction

Sales are nearing the $100 million market for New Jersey-based Precision Custom Coatings as the company's expansion into non-apparel markets more than offsets slowdowns in the apparel market. "In the past, we were heavily geared toward apparel markets but by the end of 2008, the two sides of our business were split evenly," said president and CEO Scott Tesser who estimated apparel dropped 20% in 2008 alone." By the end of this year, we expect that ratio to hit 70:30 geared toward industrial applications.

"Ten years ago, all we did was apparel but we've tried to diversify. We've done a good job and now we are not vulnerable to just one market."

Industrial growth received its first boost early last year when PCC's business in the flame retardant bedding market started to exceed expectations and was amplified by the company's entry into the dry air filtration market. Growth in these two markets has instigated recent investment at the company. During the past 18 months, the company has added three highloft lines to serve the bedding market and built one needlepunch line and converted an existing line to target filtration applications. The company now operates three highloft and six needlepunch lines--some of which were originally in PCC's now-closed North East, MD site--all at its Totowa, NJ site. Two thermal bonded lines, formerly in New Jersey, are now in Asia.

Mr. Tesser said it was the company's existing equipment capabilities combined with its great market potential that facilitated the entry in filtration. "When we were looking at converting the equipment we formerly used for apparel markets, and we found that one of the areas that was easy to target with the technology was dry air filtration. This has become a really important market for us," Mr. Tesser said. "We have actually been able to bring innovative product into an area that is quite stale."

Expansion into new markets has been the focus for PCC for the past decade as it has seen more and more of its apparel business--once its sole operation--move to China. PCC currently has three joint venture partnerships in China--one of which centers around nonwoven fabrics--which are all in the apparel market but is already seeing increased competition there as local manufacturers step up performance.

That said, PCC intends to brand beyond apparel in China by expanding its filtration offerings there, most likely with the help of a domestic partner. Add PCC's existing knowledge of the market combined and the region's strong demand for HVAC and dust bag filtration markets, and it makes sense to target this market, according to Mr. Tesser

And, new market opportunities are something the company will continue to evaluate. "There is a lot of growth for us within our new businesses. I'm trying to focus on that," Mr. Tesser concluded.

35

Textilgruppe Hof

HofSaale, Germany

www.textilgruppehof.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $98 million

Textilgruppe Hof AG

Hof/Saale, Germany

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Web: www.textilgruppehof.com

eswegee Vliesstoff GmbH

A company of Textilgruppe Hof AG

Fabrikzeile 21, 95208 Hof/Saale, Germany

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Web: www.eswegee.com

Techtex GmbH Vliesstoff

A company of Textilgruppe Hof AG

Mittweida, Germany

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Web: www.textilgruppehof.com

Hof Textiles, Inc.

A company of Textilgruppe Hof AG

Lincolnton, NC

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Web: www.textilgruppehof.com

Key Personnel

Harald Stini, managing director; Detlev Ksippel, managing director--Techtex and Global sales director eswegee, technical nonwovens; Lothar Hackler, president--HofTextiles, Inc.

Plants

Hof/Saale, Germany; Reichenbach, Germany; Mittweida, Germany; Lincolnton, NC

ISO Status

ISO 9001, ISO 14001, VDA 6.1

Processes

Drylaid, thermal bonded, needlepunched, saturate bonded, stitch-bonded, spunlace

Brand Names

Variopoint, Unipoint, Unisoft, Zetafelt, Zetastitch, Zetafil, Zetawatt, Florbond, Zetabond, Zetajet, Zetatherm, Zetamold, Maliwatt, Malivlies, Kunit, Multiknit eswegee 2000 series, Bassopoint

Major Markets

Acoustics, automotive, filtration, roofing, industrial, interlinings

With sales holding steady at $98 million in 2008, Textilgruppe Hof's nonwoven division held strong this year as both the technical nonwovens and interlinings product groups coped with difficult market conditions brought on by the global economic crisis. Due to a solid business environment throughout the first three quarters of last year, the company was far above budget but faced a serious downturn in the last quarter of 2008. "The drop in revenue was exacerbated by customers' attempts to reduce inventory levels to almost zero for the remaining months of the year, which led to even fewer orders," explained managing director Harald Stini and Detlev Kappel, global sales director of eswegee and managing director of Techtex. The silver lining in the cloud for Hof has been an end to the hype over increasing raw material prices, which seem to have leveled off for the time being.

Despite ongoing uncertainty in the global economy, eswegee has taken advantage of its long-term relationships with customers such as Tier1 and OEMs with which it has been working on various new projects for the future. The question remains how the financial crisis will affect its customer base, including the OEMs, moving forward.

Overall, Hof's industrial business is still growing and due to massive past investments, the company considers itself well prepared for the future. Hof's new plant in Reichenbach, Germany was not affected by the economic downturn and is currently operating at nearly full capacity. Helping to spur this growth are newly developed product groups for automotive and other market segments.

For automotive end uses, Hof has developed a new generation of lightweight acoustic nonwovens to help customers reduce total weight and improve acoustic properties of the final parts. New styles for injection molding, automotive underbody shields, wheel arch liners, trunk trim and package trays were also developed. "All nonwovens can be treated online with a new finishing technology to meet the stringent regulations for flame retardancy such as PV 3357 from VW or UL 94 for Japanese OEMs," commented Ms. Kappel.

In the area of roofing, other new products have been developed with high MD/CD tensile strength, high water vapor per meability and high temperature stability to enhance overall performance of the final composite.

When it comes to stitchbonding, Hof's four stitchbonded technologies (Malivlies, Maliwatt, Kunit and Multiknit), make it a market leader in terms of product diversity and individual "tailor-made" solutions. At its stitchbonded plant in Mittweida, Hof enjoyed three very strong quarters in 2008 but saw a slowdown in the last three months of the year. "Overall, we still managed to achieve a respectable growth in sales compared to last year," Mr. Kappel said. "Our investments to further expand capacity for specific product groups helped us reduce costs and offer enhanced quality to our customers." He added that despite the currently difficult economical environment, the company plans to expand and upgrade capacity in 2009.

While its interlinings business was off to a good start in the first six months of 2008, business declined in the second half, reflecting the overall consumer climate in the garment industry and the ongoing strength of imports for "ready-made" garments from Asia to Europe. "We also expect 2009 to be a very difficult market environment" reported Dr. Stini. He pointed to production overcapacities for interlinings on the supply side and a still-shrinking customer base for such products in central Europe.

As for Hof Textiles, the company has seen another year of growing sales for technical nonwovens, especially for automotive applications. As other suppliers exited the market, Hof was able to grow marketshare in North America and make numerous investments in new technology and capacity to fuel innovation and growth in the North American automotive industry. "New, innovative products and continued investments, together with our excellent customer service and technical expertise, supported significant ongoing growth in sales and marketshare in 2008," stated Lothar Hackler, president of HofTextiles.

Progress also continued in 2008 in India where Textilgruppe Hof owns a 45% share of a joint venture with Supreme Nonwoven Industries. All market segments--filtration, automotive and interlinings--showed upward trends throughout most of the year. Fortunately, the business was only slightly impacted by global financial troubles, a situation that mirrors the overall economy in India. "Our joint venture remained fairly robust due to the somewhat closed economy in India with relatively few exports to other regions of the world," Dr. Stini said.

36

Unitika

Osaka, Japan

www.unitika.co.jp

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $97 million

Key Personnel

Masaru Tsugawa, general manager, nonwoven fabrics division; Hiroshi Kawasaki, general manager, nonwoven fabrics sales

Plants

Okasaki and Tarui

Brand Names

Marix, Eleves, Nyace, Wiwi, Alcima, Terramac, Cottoace

Unitika's annual nonwovens capacity is 22,000 tons of spunbond nonwovens and 5000 tons of spunlaced nonwovens. Additionally, Tusco, a joint venture of Unitika and Teijiin, makes 5000 tons of PET spunbonded nonwovens per year.

Production of PET spunbonded nonwovens decreased in the latter half of 2008 as the markets it serves softened and this has negatively impacted sales and earnings. Meanwhile, in Unitika's spunlace operation, hygiene and cosmetic applications remained level as the usage of windshield wipes for automotives markets decreased. At Tusco, sales decreased but profits increased.

Tusco became a subsidiary of Unitika in April 2008. The main uses of nonwovens made by Tusco include the base cloth of tufted carpets used in the carpets or mobile floor mats. With existing output, growth would be difficult so an expansion strategy will be necessary in the future.

Spunbonded nonwovens made with composite fibers in a core-sheath formation are being made under the brand name Eleves and demand is growing for these products. The core is made of polyester and the sheath is made of PE. Current 6000 tons of this material is made in Japan but this is expected to expand as Tusco equipment is enhanced to be able to make Eleves.

Current efforts from Unitika currently center around the development of new products to make up for decreases in other areas. This is difficult but it is necessary, according to the company.

37

Spuntech Industries

Upper Tiberias, Israel

www.spuntech.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $90 million

Key Personnel

Rob Stollar, vice president, global sales and marketing, Ron Broshi, vice president of new product development; John Rank, director of sales and marketing--The Americas, Avi Bash, director sales and marketing, Europe, Russia, Israel, Africa

Plants

Tiberias, Israel; Shamir, Israel; Roxboro, NC

Processes

Hydroentanged Spunlace

ISO Status

ISO 9001:2000 certified

Major Markets

Wipes, Hygiene, Medical, Industrial

New to this year's report is N.R Spuntech Industries, an Israeli-based manufacturer of spunlace nonwovens with a U.S. operation in Roxboro, NC. Spuntech's sales have been increasing steadily since opening its U.S. plant in 2006 and from their annual reports sales were approximately $90 million last year.

Founded in 1996, owned by Nissan Medical, Spuntech is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The company has three production facilities and four lines--two in the Galilee, Israel, one in Shamir, Israel and a brand-new site in Roxboro, NC.

The majority of this output targets the hygiene, wet wipes and medical markets where the company works closely with its customers to understand their specific needs and requirements. "We focus on high end products for different markets," according to director of sales and marketing John Rank. "We are not looking at making just plain vanilla spunlace. We want to provide our customers with innovative products that give them an added advantage in the marketplace."

Spuntech's spunlace fabrics are comprised of cotton, viscose, polyester, polypropylene or any blend of these fibers, including 100% cotton, 100% viscose or 100% polyester. Fabric-texture options include apertured and a variety of hydro embossed patterns. Spuntech is capable of reaching an extraordinary fabric tensile strength ratio of 1:1.5 to 1:3 MD-CD.

Most of its U.S. output feeds the North and South American markets while Israel primarily serves its local market, Europe and in developing markets such as Russia. "There is room for growth in both regions," Mr. Rank said. "We are running steady but we are always looking to improve our product mix and bring on new, innovative items."

38

Rexcell

Bengtsfors, Sweden

www.rexcell.se

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $86 million

Key Personnel

Andreas Norman, vice president of sales and marketing

Plant Locations

Sweden--Skapafors and Dals Lange

Applications

Tabletop, wipes, feminine hygiene, adult incontinence

Sales were flat last year for Rexcell Tissue & Airlaid as stable growth earlier in the year slowed and eventually turned to declining volumes by the end of the year, said vice president of sales and marketing Andreas Normen. Despite these trying times, Mr. Normen described the European market as a rather good condition; however, new capacity coming onstream combined with economic turbulence could make an impact by year's end.

Owned by the Duni Group, Sweden's Rexcell is Europe's oldest maker of commercialized airlaid. It launched its first line--a small one--in Sweden in 1982 and added a 1.6-meter line featuring flexibility in bonding choices in 1986. A 2.6-meter airlaid line (TM2) was added in 1996 at which time the original pilot line was shut down. While investment in new lines has slowed since then--as the global airlaid market has sought to balance supply and demand levels--Rexcell is continuously making efforts to improve its existing assets. In 2008, this was a $7 million bioboiler to help improve energy efficiency throughout its processes.

"We continuously work with energy efficiency and other green projects under the idea that going more green is beneficial to all and the costs as well," Mr. Normen said. "Green does not mean extra costs if you do it right."

Rexcell's airlaid capacity is currently about 30,000+ tons, which executives said is under great demand, a situation that will likely force the company to make an investment decision in the near term. For now, the company is looking to see how Concert Industries' latest European investment--an airlaid line in Germany-will affect supply.

Currently, about 98% of Rexcell's airlaid business exists in Europe, where it has a reported 20% marketshare. Its business is split evenly between airlaid and tissue and airlaid markets include tabletop, which is partially fueled by supply to its parent company, as well as wipes, feminine hygiene and adult incontinence. All of its airlaid output is based on natural fibers and, unlike some of its competitors, Rexcell has no capabilities in the synthetic realm.

Looking forward, Mr. Norman said Rexcell's main focus will be keeping up with market demands in terms of both capacity and quality. "We will continue to develop ourselves as a company--the process and the product in close relationship with our customers and other stake holders, with a big focus on minimizing our energy usage and the impact on the environment," Mr. Normen concluded.

39

Kuraray

Osaka, Japan

www.kuraray.co.jp

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $85 million

Key Personnel

Takashi Nakajima, president, Kuraray Kuraflex

Plants

Okayama, Saijo and Ibaragi

Processes

Resin bonded, thermal bonded, spunlaced, meltblown, steam jet

Brand Names

Kuraflex, Microflex, Flextar

Major markets

Coverstock, wipes, medical, household materials

Kuraray Kuraflex, Kuraray Saijio and Kuraflex Ibaragi are the three industrial concerns related to nonwovens at Kuraray.

Kuraray Kuraflex makes thermal bonded, spunlaced and resin bonded nonwovens, as well as jet nonwovens (brand name: Flextar), which were introduced with a capacity of 1000 tons per year in October 2006. Meanwhile, Kauraray Saijio can make 1800 tons of meltblown material per year and Kuraflex Ibaragi makes 3500 tons of spunlaced nonwovens per year.

As for the nonwovens project of Kuraray, the disposable products, such as baby wet tissues, windshield wipers for business use and sanitary products represent 70-80% of sales of whole manufacturered goods.

In comparison to other applications, the demand is fairly stable in these markets. Still, future expansion of this operation is difficult with only existing nonwovens, so adding value to existing products is needed to achieve future growth. This has encouraged Kuraray to start making new nonwovens such as Flextar, its steam jet nonwovens brand. Other efforts include medical dressings with stretch properties, which were commercialized last year and a tatami mat using Dow Kakoh and Flextar. Kuraray intends to promote the development of new applications as interior finishing products, making use of their acoustical benefits as well as shock absorption and breathability.

Kuraray is pushing forward on a new project to perform in parallel, the exploitation of a new product and opening up the intended use to create new leading use applications as an important pillar of the future nonwovens undertaking. At the core of these efforts is an attempt to develop new products, making full use of all nonwovens that Kuraray produces in three areas, medical, cosmetics and industrial use filters, to promote the exploitation of these products to carry the future businesses.

40

Foss Manufacturing

Hampton, NH

www.fossmfg.com

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $80 million

Key Personnel

A.J. Nassar, CEC); Mike DeGrace, president

Plants

Hampton, NH

ISO Status

All businesses are QS 9000, ISC) 9001, and ISO 17025 certified and are close to ISO 14,000 (environmental registration based on efforts to reduce emissions, solid waste and waste water)

Processes

Polyester, polypropylene and specialty fiber spinning; needlepunch, extrusion; flame lamination, calendering, latex coating, saturation, die cutting, embossing

Brand Names

Eco-fi, Fosscloth, Fosshield, FossFibre, Ozite, TopGuard, Kunin Felt, Kreative Kanvas, Major Markets

Specialty synthetic fiber (solution dyed PET, bicomponent fibers, antimicrobial fibers, fire-retardant fibers, acrylic fiber); automotive (headliners, package trays, floor carpets, interior trim fabrics); Ozite decorative (wall coverings, marine, RV, speaker coverings); retail (Kunin craft felt, auto-aftermarket, indoor/outdoor carpeting, construction); technical (vinyl substrate, filtration, footwear, healthcare and car wash.)

All things considered, Foss Manufacturing says its performance in 2008 was satisfactory. Roll goods sales, at $80 million, were essentially flat, dipping by a small percentage compared to the steep declines witnessed recently in many of its key markets. David Rowell, Foss' executive vice president of sales, attributed the company's results to the current economy and pointed out that industry-wide car sales are off 27% while motor home, RV and marine markets have fallen 70%. "As a whole, the automotive market was off dramatically. The economy is not spurring us on, that's for sure, but we do have four or five arenas that look positive. We are doing okay."

One such bright spot is Foss' Fosshield additive, which is making headway in an array of both woven and nonwoven applications in different market areas such as towels, mattress pads, mattress ticking, apparel, blankets, hospital cubicle curtains, upholstery for medical offices and wallcoverings.

Another ray of hope comes in the form of Fosshield facemasks, which have earned both Canadian and EU approval and are close to a nod from FDA as well. "Swine flu and other viruses are boosting demand for face masks and orders have dramatically increased. Our facemask business is way up." Mr. Rowell attributed part of this growth to the strength and quality of Foss' antimicrobial technology and said some of the increase stems from the fact that people are looking for antimicrobial protection. "The Fosshield facemask is much more than just a filtering device. It will not allow microbe growth on its surface and thus can be reused without fear of bacterial buildup," he said.

With the green movement in full swing, Foss' Eco-fi recycled fibers and fabrics are enjoying the public's increasing emphasis on environmental responsibility as well the Obama administration's efforts toward eco-consciousness in general. Made from 100% recycled plastic PET bottles, Eco-fi continues to gain momentum and represents 70% of Foss' overall fiber sales. The recycled polyester fiber's benefits include sustainability, eco-friendliness, decreased landfill impact and lack of harmful emissions.

"This has helped our cause in many of the markets we serve. We're getting lots of hits on our website and people are demanding green products. We can't increase our prices over it, but it helps us fight against the competition."

Another area of growth for Foss is footwear, the company's legacy, where business has tripled. With the majority of sales (90%) stemming from military contracts, Foss works with three or four U.S.-based companies to produce box toes, counters and midsoles for military boots. "This is not huge volume but footwear is a good, steady business for us in an area where we were barely active just a couple of years ago."

Foss is also making strides in the outdoor seasonal carpeting arena where it is penetrating big box stores and seeing substantial benefits. The company is placing indoor/outdoor carpeting in a variety of colors and constructions as well as a high quality carpet pad in the major chains. Additionally, a new line of carpet tiles from Foss has been placed in more than one chain. "These products have dramatically increased our sales into the home centers," Mr. Rowell reported.

In the automotive sector, Foss is holding its own and looking forward to recovery in 2010 and beyond. "Our auto sales have been up in 2009 even with the dismal automotive sector, where car builds are one half of what they were last year (and last year was down). Our market penetration has grown, and we have not witnessed the overall sales loss in automotives. Even though the manufacturing sector has been damaged by the economic and credit situation, auto builds will come back up next year, and we'll be ready."

With its new needlepunch line offering "dramatic improvements" in both quality and output, Foss is taking the possibility of future expansion very seriously. Designed and built by ErkoTrutzschler, the turnkey machinery uses finer denier fiber and produces lighter weight fabrics. "The new needlepunch line is wonderful--it's everything it was billed to be and more," said Mr. Roweli. "Our next expansion will be in the direction of new patterning for our roll goods. We are looking into different structuring and aesthetic concepts." He added that on the fibers end, future investments will target improved abrasion and fire retardancy. "New fiber technologies are an important focus for us from an R&D standpoint."

The company is also keeping a close eye on the medical market, where its antimicrobial technology is expected to flourish. "This is really the future of our company," said Mr. Rowell. "Our strategy is to continue to enter into medical and hospital markets where quality and efficacy will bring key benefits. Antimicrobials have a ton of potential--not just in non-disposable hospital applications such as blankets and curtains but also in footwear and automotive uses. Whatever the need, we'll be there to fill it."

40

KNH Enterprises

Taipei, Taiwan

www.knh.com.tw

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $80 million

Key Personnel

J.C. Tai, chairman and owner; Kirk Hwang, president; George Wang, general manager China operations; Alvin Hu, wastewater business unit officer

Plants

Taipei, Taiwan; Shanghai, China

Processes

Air through bonding, thermal bonding, meltblown, airlaid, needlepunch, spunlace

Brand Names

Carnation brand for hygiene; Co-Fiber for industrial specialty products

Major Markets

Hygiene, industrial, agriculture, geotextiles

Describing 2008 as a good year was company president Kirk Hwang. Sales growth was 25-30%, depending on the exchange rate, thanks to increased demand for spunlaced nonwovens in wipes and airlaid nonwovens in the feminine hygiene and adult incontinence markets. Moving into 2009, the company has seen a decline in the hygiene markets and the company is now working to adjust its annual forecast in the wake of the economic crisis.

One year after completing a plant expansion in Shanghai, China that nearly doubled its capacity there, KNH already has plans in place to construct a new nonwovens production and converting operation in the western part of China. On the nonwovens end, this site will initially make spunlaced and meltblown nonwovens, the two most sought-after technologies in China but eventually airlaid will likely be added to the operation.

"We are very careful when it comes to growth in China," Mr. Hwang said. "We are taking it one step at a time. In the past 10 years, we have focused all of our efforts on Shanghai, and this is the first time we have a second factory in China."

On the spunlace side of KNH's business, growth has largely been driven by the wipes market, mainly in China. The company is currently making about 8000 tons of the material per year and that figure should hit 10,000 by the end of this year as more capacity on its new line is utilized. "We are still using the machine for new product development," Mr. Hwang added.

Wipes has continued to drive growth. Overall, baby care wipes decreased, but at the same time adult wipes and medical wipes improved. "Part of it is that technology has allowed wipes to be more affordable, particularly in Asia."

"China has a lot of spunlace but it's segmented into different quality categories," Mr. Hwang said. "Only a small percentage of spunlace is actually qualified for good manufacturing practices. The majority of the spunlace is okay for general practice when microbial control is not required but in hygiene, microbial control is required and we see a shortage there."

Meanwhile, airlaid has continued to thrive thanks to demand for feminine hygiene and adult incontinence items. However, there has been some uncertainty in wood pulp pricing, making business in this area difficult, Mr. Hwang said. This has allowed manufacturers to increase the ratio of superabsorbent polymers in airlaid latex technology.

Also contributing to KNH's recent growth is the market for meltblown nonwovens, which is used in face masks. These masks have seen heightened demand due to the swine flu epidemic and other infectious disease threats.

"Because of swine flu, the demand for masks has increased many, many times. We have a line running at full capacity to support mask manufacturing," Mr. Iwang said.

Looking ahead, Mr. Hwang sees expansion both geographically and technologically for KNH. By region, the next big Asian investment, he predicts, will be India, which is currently being served from KNH's Taiwanese plants. "There could come a time when it makes sense to begin producing nonwovens there," he explained.

From a technological plant, the company's next generation product will likely be spunbond nonwovens which will serve as a replacement for air-through bonding applications in the hygiene market. "We will focus on high conductivity of liquid and find materials, technology currently used for microfiltration, and apply it o hygiene," Mr. Hwang said. "This is still in the works, but we think our next generation product for this application will be spunbond."

With most of its sales in Asia, KNH has been reacting to current market situations but at the same time has been maximizing its current capacity utilization, ensuring cash flow prices and focusing on emerging markets. "It's kind of a defensive position we are taking but for the long term we continue to invest money for the next generation product."

40

Shalag Group

Upper Galilee, Israel

www.shalag.co.il

2008 Nonwovens Sales: $80 million

Plant Locations

Israel, U.S. (planned)

Major Processes

thermal bonded

The biggest news from Israel's Shalag Group is a recent announcement that the company invested $15 million in a new thermal bonded production line in the eastern part of the U.S. The new line will add 6000 tons of capacity to the company's existing 18,000-ton output currently being made in Israel. Commercial production will begin in late 2010.

According to executives, Shalag sees great potential for its air through and calender bonded products in North America, where it already has several customers. The investment will help the company improve its customer service by decreasing supply time and the need to maintain large stocks. Key markets include disposable diapers, feminine hygiene items, wet and dry wipes and various industrial applications. "Shalag's unique, proven capabilities in the realm of thermal bonding will enable the development and suitability of innovative, new products and will certainly lead us into additional fields in the American market," said Ilan Pickman.

Shalag has been making nonwovens since 1984 with a focus on the hygiene and wipes markets. It currently operates four production lines, all using thermal bonded technology, in Israel. Products include a range of substrates weighing less than 10 to more than 100 gsm and comprising more than 40 fiber types.

Shalag's thermobond technology enables great flexibility in the production of a very extensive range of products in small production batches and at competitive costs. "This capability, along with years of professional expertise and product development enables Shalag to tailor make products for individual customer requirements."

The company currently has four production lines with 18,000 tons of fully utilized production capacity. The fifth line, which will increase capacity to 24,000 tons, is expected to help the company grow its sales from $80 million today to more than $100 million in the next few years, Mr. Picman concluded.

Companies To Watch

Lantor, The Netherlands

www.lantor.nl

Processes: drylaid, webforming, chemical and thermal bonding, laminating, coating, impregnating, calendering, slitting, spooling Major Markets: Cable, fiber reinforced plastics/composites, construction/building, packaging, automotives, label systems

RKW, Worms, Germany

www.rkw-ag.com

Processes: Spunbonded, carded, hydroentangled

Mogul, Gaziantep, Turkey

www.mogulsb.com

Processes: Spunbond, meltblown, spunlace, laminated Major Markets: bedding and furniture, medical, agriculture landscape, luggage & shoe lining, filtration, oil sorbents/spill control, wipes, protective apparel, construction, hygiene, automotive, fabric softeners, laminating/coating substrates, packaging, vacuum cleaner dustbags

Gulsan, Gaziantep, Turkey

www.gulsan-group.com

Processes: spunmelt Major markets: hygiene, furniture, construction, geotextiles

Alex, Settala, Italy

www.atex-spun.com

Processes: spunbond, meltblown

Texel, Quebec, Canada

www.texel.ca

Processes: needlepunch Major Markets: wipes

2009: THE WORLD'S LEADING NONWOVENS PRODUCERS

1.    Freudenberg                   $1.45 billion
2.    Dupont                        $1.4 billion
3.    Kimberly-Clark                $1.3 billion
      Ahlstrom                      $1.3 billion
5.    Polymer Group inc.            $1.15 billion

6.    Fiberweb                      $947 million
7.    Johns Manville                $670 million
8.    Fibertex                      $295 million
9.    Avgol                         $254 million
10.   First Quality Nonwoven        $250 million

11.   Buckeye                       $240 million
      Hollingsworth & Vose          $240 million
13.   Sandier                       $232 million
14.   Concert Industries            $230 million
      TWE Group                     $230 million

16.   Companhia Providencia         $225 million
17.   Japan Vilene                  $222 million
18.   Pegas                         $209 million
19.   Asahi Kasei                   $195 million
      Colbond                       $195 million

21.   Propex Holding                $175 million
22.   Jacob Holm                    $172 million
23.   Vita Nonwovens                $170 million
24.   Toyobo                        $163 million
25.   Mitsui Chemicals              $155 million

26.   Georgia-Pacific               $150 million
27.   Toray Saehan                  $144 million
28.   Union Industries              $143 million
29.   Andrew Industries             $130 million
30.   Lydall                        $112 million

31.   Suominen                      $107 million
32.   Fitesa                        $103 million
33.   Royal Tencate                 $102 million
34.   Precision Custom Coatings     $100 million
35.   Textilgruppe Hof              $98 million

36.   Unitika                       $97 million
37.   Spuntech                      $90 million
38.   Rexcell                       $86 million
39.   Kuraray                       $85 million
40.   Foss Manufacturing            $80 million
      KNH Enterprises               $80 million
      Shalag Industries             $80 million