Tokyo based JNC Corporation has announced that it has completed and started operation of the production line for thermo-plastic bicomponent fibres (ES Fibre) at ES FiberVisions (Thailand) Co. Ltd., a JNC’s member company located in Rayong, Thailand. ES FiberVisions is a 50:50 joint venture of JNC Fibers Corporation and Indorama Holdings Ltd.

The new ES Fibre production line with a capacity of about 14,500 tons/year has been set up at a cost of $12 million.

ES Fibre is a unique thermo-plastic bicomponent fibre which can be heated and bonded to each other without using adhesives. The resulting nonwoven fabric made of the ES Fibre is soft and bulky, and is currently widely used in hygiene products such as baby diapers and feminine care products.

In order to expand its business in the growing Asian market, JNC formed the manufacturing company ES FiberVisions (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. in 2011 as a joint venture with ES FiberVisions LP, with whom it had been in a global partnership for sales.

Further, after FiberVisions became a subsidiary of Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), JNC and IVL have agreed to expand their partnership in Asia and have been constructing the newly completed bicomponent production line in ES FiberVisions (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

“JNC will continue to aggressively pursue business expansion by taking advantage of our integrated system of manufacturing fibres and nonwoven fabrics, in order to meet the strong demand from the Asian market,” the company said. (RKS)