Beautiful Group Chart

Key Personnel

Benny Dong, chairman; Vivian Yan, assistant GM

Plants

Guangdong, Siyang Jiangsu, Wuxi Jiangsu and Tianjin, China; Grover, NC

Processes

Spunmelt, spunbond

Application

Hygiene, technical, medical

Total sales were reported at approximately $242 million for Beautiful Group. The Chinese-based nonwovens producer achieved sales of $215 million through its Chinese plants as well as nearly $27 million from Uniquetex, its U.S. operation based in Grover, NC. According to executives at the 25-year-old company, growth was driven by continuous capacity expansion in both China and the U.S., as well as stable orders from major customers in recent years, thanks to reliable supply and consistent quality.

Beautiful Health (BTF) was established in Guangdong, China in 2000 and has primarily focused on the development of spunmelt nonwoven fabrics targeting hygiene, medical and industrial applications. The company currently operates four manufacturing bases in China, Guangdong, Siyang Jiangsu, Wuxi Jiangsu and Tianjin, as well as one site in the U.S., which was established in 2015. Additionally, BTF has sales offices in Hong Kong, China and Tokyo, Japan.

BTF began its business in Guangdong, where its headquarters remain located in Foshan. The Guangdong plant currently operates 12 production lines with an annual capacity of 81,300 tons. In the past three years, BTF has sold four of the site’s original lines, and the remaining lines have an annual capacity of 81,300 tons, all producing nonwoven fabrics for hygiene, medical and industrial applications. Also, the world’s widest nonwoven production line—a 7,000mm SMMS line—is located in Foshan.

In Jiangsu Province, BTF has two facilities. One is in Siyang, which operates two lines, an SSMS line and a newer SSS line, and one in Wuxi, which has the most advanced German-Reicofil production lines including the world’s only seven-beam SSMMMMS line, with an annual output of 20,000 tons, and a state-of-the-art SMMMS line featuring the latest Recofil-5S technology.

In Tianjin, BTF operates one 4.2-meter SSMS line with an annual capacity of 15,000 tons. This line is currently running at full capacity, and the company is actively exploring opportunities to expand its presence there. The company acquired this operation from Mitsui Chemicals in 2021.

“Each of these plants are strategically important to our business, as they collectively cover all major regions of China,” says Vivian Yan, assistant GM. “This nationwide footprint is central to our strategy—enabling us to provide responsive and reliable service to our customers both within China and internationally.”

BTF’s sole facility located outside of China, Uniquetex, has recently gained increased consumer acceptance after years of challenges including difficult development and lack of in-depth market understanding. BTF is responding to recent successes with investment. Later this year, construction will be complete on a new 4.2 meter SSMMS Reicofil production line bringing the U.S. capacity from 33,000 tons to 40,000 tons. Executives expect investment to continue in North Carolina including new facilities to accommodate new production lines, a strategy it maintains throughout all of its production sites.

“We keep expanding every year by adding new production lines with new plants built, we never stop, and with our excellent technology in the nonwovens industry, the quality of our products are widely accepted by customers worldwide,” Yan says.

Despite its technological advancements and strong investment efforts, BTF reports challenging conditions in both the Asian and U.S. markets. In Asia, the nonwoven market is overcrowded with too many producers and too much capacity, especially from Covid-era newcomers, so despite stable market demand, oversupply has led to challenging pricing and eroded margins. While the U.S. market is better, as a Chinese-owned producer, BTF is dealing with longer time for customer approvals, high labor costs and labor shortages and high operational cost.

In the short term, BTF will continue to strengthen its foundation, further expand in traditional industrial markets and provide strong support to customers while accommodating their development needs. In the long term, its aim is to leverage its specialized operational management expertise to seize opportunities and expand into the broader North American market, while introducing more innovative products in the hygiene and medical markets, which continue to be its most important market areas, both in Asia and North America.

“While pursuing innovation, we also remain attentive to traditional market demands,” Yan concludes. “Leveraging years of experience, BTF will increase investment and expand its presence to capture a larger market share.”