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Fibertex Personal Care invests USD 55m in Malaysia

13 Apr '12

4 min read

Fibertex Personal Care will be investing USD 55m in a state-of-the-art production line in Malaysia. The facility will be in operation within two years and increase the total production capacity by 30%.

Fibertex Personal Care will now be making a large, new investment by expanding their production capacity. Only two years ago, the company announced a similar investment of USD 49m, now fully implemented, and today, the Danish company holds six production lines in Denmark and Malaysia.

With this new investment, the production facility in Malaysia will reach a total capacity of 70,000 tons during the next two years.

CEO of Fibertex Personal Care, Mikael Staal Axelsen, explains the ambitious growth strategy:

- In general, the increasing level of wealth in Asia is continuously resulting in positive hygiene improvements to the great benefit of the public health - especially in China, India and South East Asia where the population is to an increasing extent moving into single family homes, thereby setting completely new standards for personal hygiene. The market growth will continue in coming years, and we must be ready for it, he says, and continues: - During 2012, we expect fully utilized capacity with the sixth production line, and our other production lines are in operation 24 hours a day. As we are solely a make-to-order company, we now have 1.5-2 years to fill our order books and meet the new capacity increase of 15,000 tons.

The Malaysian factory was established by Fibertex Personal Care in 2002, which turned out to be the perfect time for establishing the company in the South East Asian market. Today, the Danish company is among the top three in the region, and Fibertex Personal Care is the largest non-Japanese supplier to the Japanese market, thanks to a unique expertise and a wide selection of the so-called spunbond and spunmelt nonwoven products of a very high quality. The nonwoven end product is used in the production of e.g. diapers, feminine hygiene products, incontinence products and different products for medical purposes:

- These industries as well as the consumers expect hygiene products to continuously become lighter, softer and more aesthetically pleasing. We have received several awards for our ability to provide innovation, quality and service. This places us amongst the leading manufacturers in the business, says Mikael Staal Axelsen.

Fibertex Personal Care is a subsidiary 100% owned by industry conglomerate Schouw & Co. which has had great success implementing long-term investment strategies in other companies in the group:

- It is vital that we, the owners, think and invest from a long term perspective. When it comes to making investments, timing is of the essence - not least for global companies. In the long term, this is the best way to ensure profitable growth, says President Jens Bjerg Sørensen of Schouw & Co.

The new investment reflects this strategy:

- Placing our investment in Malaysia ten years ago was the right decision for Fibertex Personal Care. Today, we are one of the leading companies in this part of the world, where growth and potential is at its highest. At the same time, we can continue to further develop our products in Europe where the market is more mature and well established. This is why we are convinced that the investment of approx USD 55m in Malaysia is the right thing to do, he continues.

Fibertex Personal Care, employing around 350 people, had a turnover in 2011 of approx USD 220m and a profit of approx USD 26m. The company's new investment will not affect the expectations for the 2012 result.

Fibertex Personal Care is one of the world's leading manufacturers of spunbond products for the hygiene industry. On a global scale, the group is the fifth largest in the world and holds a market share of approx 8%.

Fibertex Personal Care produces nonwoven fiber textiles made from the oil based plastic product polypropylene, a biodegradable material containing no substances harmful to the environment. The products are manufactured through an integrated process where fibers are extruded from plastic granulate and blown onto a fast moving, 13 feet long conveyor belt in a very fine layer. With the existing six production lines in Denmark and Malaysia, the capacity is approx 170,000 square feet per minute.

In later years, Fibertex Personal Care has won a series of Excellence Awards from e.g. Procter & Gamble, the world's largest manufacturer of hygiene products by any standard.

Schouw & Co is a listed industrial group with active ownership of a series of Danish companies, employing a total of 3,300 people. The company had a total turnover in 2011 of approx USD 2 billion.

Fibertex Personal Care