J.H. Ziegler Inaugurated 2nd Technical Nonwovens Production Plant

September 21, 2011 - Germany

More than 200 guests from politics and business attended the official opening of the new facility of nonwovens manufacturer J.H. Ziegler GmbH at their Hungarian site in Bábolna on 20 September 2011.

7 million EUR were invested in a new hall and an ultramodern nonwovens plant. This facility will be used to produce nonwovens for automobile applications, such as seat padding and acoustic insulating materials, and for technical applications, such as filtration and thermal insulation.

Ms Henter, General Director at the Hungarian Ministry for National Economy, congratulated Ziegler on this investment that supports the Hungarian government's strategy to promote the automotive industry. Mr Riedel, German Ambassador to Hungary, emphasised the significance of capital expenditure by medium-sized German enterprises in Hungary.

In his speech entitled "EDANA's vision of a competitive European nonwovens industry in a globalised framework", Pierre Wiertz, General Manager of the nonwovens association, addressed the development potential in the nonwovens industry. He also highlighted the significance of the sustainability of Ziegler's products. For example, the use of modern nonwovens as acoustic absorbers in cars reduces the weight of a vehicle by several kilograms compared to conventional products.

At their Hungarian site in Bábolna, Ziegler will produce not only its established product portfolio for the furniture industry but also for all other local markets in Central and Eastern Europe. This provides major savings in transport and thus fosters sustainability.

The factories of the two German automobile manufacturers in Hungary as well as production facilities in neighbouring Slovakia are all less than 200 kilometres from the site.

Ziegler has shown dynamic and significantly above-average growth in recent years, which has prompted this second major investment after only five years of production in Hungary.

Ziegler's turnover in 2010 was more than 30 million EUR, 20% of which came from the Hungarian site. And this percentage will certainly show a significant increase in coming years.

J.H. Ziegler GmbH is a medium-sized nonwovens manufacturer supplying the automotive industry and numerous other technical sectors. The workforce of almost 200 is employed at the Achern, Lambrecht and Bábolna sites.