Rengo Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan, announced that its wholly-owned nonwoven business subsidiary, Rengo Nonwoven Products Co., Ltd., is preparing to establish a nonwoven sales company and begin local production in Jiangsu, China as the first step towards the overseas expansion of its nonwoven business.

Since its establishment in 1986, Rengo Nonwoven Products has manufactured thermal bonded nonwovens for hygiene products—mainly disposable diapers and sanitary products—and as the current top manufacturer in Japan, has provided high quality nonwoven products that meet various customer needs with skills and expertise regarding nonwoven manufacturing accumulated over its many years in the business.

In recent years, high-level economic development in China has led to increased demand for products such as disposable diapers and further growth in consumption volume is anticipated in the future with switchovers from cloth diapers. Rengo Nonwoven Products has established a wholly-owned sales company for nonwovens in Wuxi, Jiangsu to respond to demand in the hygiene product market in China, which is experiencing remarkable growth says the company.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing of nonwovens will be conducted by Wuxi Rengo Packaging Co., Ltd., a Chinese subsidiary of Rengo. Its plant building will be renovated and, in addition to newly installing nonwoven manufacturing equipment, all products will be supplied to the newly-established sales company.

The first stage of the plan calls for annual production of 4,800 tons and with production scheduled to begin January 2014. Over the next several years, the annual production capacity will be expanded to approximately 10,000 tons.