In June, Avgol Nonwovens Industries  sold  20% of its outstanding shares to Israel Petrochemical Enterprises (IPE), which also owns a 50% stake in Carmel Olefins, a polypropylene and polyethylene resin producer in Israel. Nir Peleg, Avgol CEO, said that the partnership with IPE further enables his company to globalize the Avgol brand.

In making this announcement, Mr. Peleg also confirmed that Avgol’s next factory expansion is underway to serve the emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Russia, the Ukraine and “Stan” countries.  The factory, located in Eastern Europe, will start operations by the fourth quarter of next year. It will house Avgol’s 10th Reicofil spunmelt nonwovens line.  

Avgol’s 2006 sales are on pace to reach $220 million, up from $160 million in 2005, thanks to the full utilization of its third North Carolina line in October 2005. Avgol attributes its overall success to the robust demand for the its ultra lightweight spunmelt nonwovens produced across Avgol’s nine Reicofil lines in Israel, China and the U.S.

 “Although we are a relatively small company, we are doing our best to emulate the multi-national companies’ philosophy to “think globally and act locally,” said Mr. Peleg. “ We continue to leverage our competitive advantage of efficiently employing young Reicofil spunmelt assets with innovation, execution and hands-on management across strategic geographies for consumer and industrial product applications.  By combining our technical and production know-how with targeted marketing and servicing of our bundle of quality spunmelt products, our organization has become a very reliable material supplier for our global and regional customers.”