Corovin GmbH.

Woltorferstrasse 124 D-31224 Peine, Germany 49 51 71 408 0; Fax: [phone]

Worldwide Nonwovens Sales: $90 million

Key Personnel: Peter Kociemba, managing director, Corovin Group; Andreas Kirsch, managing director, Corovin GmbH; Dr. Axel Nickel, managing director, Corovin GmbH; Rudolf Leberle, sales director

Plant: Peine, Germany

ISO Status: ISO 9001 certified July 1994

Processes: Spunbonded, melt blown, multidenier, composites, high loft

Brand Names: Corovin, Corosoft, Covertan, Corogard, Corolind, Coroquilt, Coroval, Corosit, Corolastic, Corobuild, Coroloft

Major Markets: Hygiene, medical, protective clothing, building, agriculture, filtration, home furnishings, automotive

Finishing in a three way tie for 20th place in the world this year, Corovin GmbH, Peine, Germany, spent the past year assimilating the major joint venture and partnership agreements it had spent the past several years actively pursuing. The company, which has recently established ventures in the U.S., South Africa, Thailand and India, is now moving on to the next step.

Within the company's globalization strategy, Corovin reports that it has now covered the markets it considers important for the future with its joint ventures and cooperations and the next step is to set up production sites. The start-up of new capacities within these cooperations and joint ventures will be effected during the next 12 months, with Corovin's South African venture Cordustex starting production by the end of this year and the CNC International venture in Thailand up and running in the second quarter of 1996. Regarding joint ventures on the technology side, Corovin remains active in pursuing this field.

Corovin continued its geographic expansion program one more time this year with a collaboration agreement in India. Its partner is PVD Plast Mould Industries, based in Bombay, which is in the process of starting up its first spun-bonded nonwovens line. This agreement was just put into place in the past few months and start-up of the line is expected in the third quarter of this year.

According to terms of the agreement, Corovin will initially import PVD's spunbonded products to service its major markets, while at the same time exporting its own nonwoven materials into India. The agreement also calls for Corovin to provide technical and marketing know-how, which will initially focus on spunbonding technology and later incorporate multi-denier and composite technology. Corovin is currently assessing whether to plan a joint manufacturing site in India and will determine the potential feasibility in the months to come.

In terms of geography, Corovin also continues to look at China as a market with huge potential. While no official plans have been announced, the joint venture in Thailand is reportedly only Corovin's first step in its Asian strategy and it is investigating further options in that area.

One joint venture that was discontinued during the past year was the agreement with fiber supplier Danaklon, which had been forged early in 1993. The joint venture company Corosit was dissolved late last year, although both companies continue to pursue composite materials for hygiene products. After the separation from Danaklon, Corovin continued with the conception of its own material and successfully introduced a highloft transition layer to the market. It is currently working on a second generation product for technical applications.

Also in the new product area, Corovin introduced a water vapor permeable underslating material for the European market that, compared to products previously used, has higher breathability combined with very high water repellency. Composite and multidenier products were also developed for the medical and air filtration markets, particularly for the automotive cabin filter segment. In the hygiene field, new versions of transition layers were developed under the trade names "Coroloft" and "Corodry" and a new elastic waist band and side panels were also developed. Corovin is also investigating technologies for textile backsheet products, using different processes included laminating products, extruded coated products and film/melt blown composites.

In other areas, the company's recycling subsidiary CoRa-Tech continues to move forward, with a second recycling line up and running in mid 1995. The additional line brings total recycling capacity to 10,000 tons.

While Corovin - like everyone else - fought a tough year of raw material price increases and a turbulent European monetary system, the company succeeded in expanding sales and volume, attributing much of this increase to its newly developed composite products. The products present multi-functional properties that can also fulfill complex requirement profiles.

At the corporate level, Corovin completed a management restructuring at the beginning of 1995, forming Corovin Holdings, which now includes all joint venture companies and strategic alliances under its umbrella.