Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals has announced plans to expand its production facilities for meltblown nonwovens at wholly owned subsidiary Sunrex. The move comes as an effort to respond to growing demand for industrial-use meltblown nonwovens, which will see the Mitsui Chemicals overall production capacity for meltblown nonwovens increase by 30 per cent.

As part of its new Vision 2030 long-term business plan, Mitsui Chemicals will be positioning nonwovens as a growth business under life and healthcare solutions in the revised portfolio. Mitsui Chemicals is therefore looking to supply nonwovens not only as sanitary materials for the likes of disposable diapers but also as industrial materials for a variety of applications, the company said in a press release.

Products targeted toward this end will include Tafnel, which can be used as an oil-adsorbing material, a structural material for automotive seats and a civil engineering material; Syntex, a structural material for filters and masks; and other such high-quality nonwovens. In particular, Syntex nano – a brand consisting of superfine fibres – is expected to meet with use in products such as highly advanced precision filters.

Mitsui Chemicals plans to further bolster and grow its nonwovens business going forward, with the newly announced facility expansion coming as one such move.