News, Markets & Analysis for the Nonwovens Industry Subscribe



Tools
del.icio.us furl StumbleUpon ma.gnolia Netscape Newsvine Reddit Rojo My Yahoo
 

The Great Divide



spunlace manufacturers point to a widening gap between low-cost commodity offerings and high-end niche products



By Ellen Wuagneux
Associate Editor




Click here to read the full article.
“Market Polarization.” These are the two words producers are using to describe current conditions in the spunlace market. This trend is being reported by spunlaced producers across the board—from high-end specialty products to lower cost commodity offerings. Despite this gap, the baby wipes segment is still showing the largest volume in the market and is expected to continue to drive spunlace growth in the 8% range in coming years.

“There is a tendency in the industry to split the market into two different segments,” commented Jos van Hattum, business unit manager of Norafin GmbH. “On the one hand, low cost offerings are needed in high volume/commodity markets and pressure on prices is heavily increasing; on the other, high performance niche market applications and customized product concepts gain ground where innovation plays a decisive role.”