Fibertex Personal Care will be investing $55 million in a state-of-the-art production line in Malaysia. The company says the facility will be in operation within two years and increase the total production capacity by 30%.

Fibertex Personal Care, one of the world’s leading suppliers of spunbond for the hygiene industry, announced a similar investment of $49 million two years ago, now fully implemented; currently, the Danish company holds six production lines in Denmark and Malaysia. With this new investment, the production facility in Malaysia will reach a total capacity of 70,000 tons during the next two years.

Mikael Staal Axelsen, CEO of Fibertex Personal Care, explains the growth strategy, saying, “In general, the increasing level of wealth in Asia is continuously resulting in positive hygiene improvements to the great benefit of the public health, especially in China, India and South East Asia where the population is to an increasing extent moving into single family homes, thereby setting completely new standards for personal hygiene. The market growth will continue in coming years, and we must be ready for it. During 2012, we expect fully utilized capacity with the sixth production line, and our other production lines are in operation 24 hours a day. As we are solely a make-to-order company, we now have 1.5-2 years to fill our order books and meet the new capacity increase of 15,000 tons.”

The Malaysian factory was established by Fibertex Personal Care in 2002, which turned out to be the perfect time for establishing the company in the South East Asian market. Today, the Danish company is among the top three in the region, and Fibertex Personal Care is the largest non-Japanese supplier to the Japanese market, thanks to a unique expertise and a wide selection of the so-called spunbond and spunmelt nonwoven products of a very high quality. The nonwoven end product is used in the production of diapers, feminine hygiene products, incontinence products and different products for medical purposes:

“These industries, as well as the consumers, expect hygiene products to continuously become lighter, softer and more aesthetically pleasing,” says Axelsen. “We have received several awards for our ability to provide innovation, quality and service. This places us amongst the leading manufacturers in the business.”

Fibertex Personal Care is a subsidiary 100% owned by industry conglomerate Schouw & Co.

“It is vital that we, the owners, think and invest from a long-term perspective,” says says Jens Bjerg Sørensen, president of Schouw & Co. “When it comes to making investments, timing is of the essence—not least for global companies. In the long-term, this is the best way to ensure profitable growth.”

Fibertex Personal Care, employing around 350 people, had a turnover in 2011 of approx $220 million and a profit of approximately $26 million. The company’s new investment will not affect the expectations for the 2012 result.