The Rupp Report: Good News From The Nonwovens Front Line

For insiders, it’s nothing new that technical textiles and nonwovens enjoy a steady growth in spite
of all the horrible trouble created by the international gambling – sorry, financial – industry.
Two weeks ago, we gladly informed our readers about some sales in the nonwovens business sector
(See ”
The
Rupp Report: Nonwovens Means Good News
,” March 3, 2009)
.

Oerlikon Neumag

Today we’re happy to do it again. The Rupp Report was informed by Germany-based
Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG that China Liugui Group Ltd. has concluded a large order with
Oerlikon Neumag, a subsidiary of Oerlikon Textile, for nonwovens production machinery and lines.

The order includes six complete production lines for carded nonwovens. As the systems
supplier, Oerlikon Neumag will provide all required engineering work and machine supplies, with
direction and coordination from the Oerlikon Neumag Carding Group.

Six Production Lines

The six production lines will comprise all machinery from fiber preparation to the winder,
including FOR cards, Autefa crosslappers and three Fehrer needle looms per line. An Oerlikon Neumag
Process Control System with closed-loop logic will provide for efficient production and optimized
felt uniformity, according to Oerlikon Neumag.

The lines will be located in Tengzhou City in China’s Shandong province. Installation and
commissioning are expected between fourth quarter 2009 and second quarter  2010.

Nonwovens For Filtration

“With this project we are continuing to implement our strategic growth objectives and have
made a sustainable investment in lucrative markets with great future potential,” said Chang Song
Gong, vice president and vice chairman, China Liugui. According to Oerlikon Neumag, the lines will
be used to produce technical nonwovens, largely for filtration applications, with future production
to be used exclusively to satisfy demand within China. So again, the production of nonwovens is and
must be made near the markets. It’s too expensive to send rather lightweight products around the
world.

Big Investor China

Georg Stausberg, managing director of Oerlikon Neumag, mentioned that “for an equipment
supplier, China is a highly competitive market, and therefore we are extremely pleased to have
captured this order.” Stausberg sees another reason for this success: Oerlikon Neumag’s continuous
efforts over the past three years to become “a supplier of complete solutions with engineering,
product and process competence.”

The contracts were signed last month in Berlin during the German-Chinese Economic Forum, with
Germany’s new Minister of Economic Affairs Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg looking on. Some 450 company
representatives from Germany and China attended the forum, and the Chinese delegation, led by Chen
Deming, China’s trade minister, signed contracts valued at some 11 billion euros with European
companies.

March 18, 2009

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