Ahlstrom’s new spunlace wipes line in Green Bay, USA starts ahead of schedule

Ahlstrom, a leader in high performance fiber-based materials, today announced that its new spunlace line located at its Green Bay, WI, USA facility is commercial two weeks ahead of schedule. This additional capacity primarily serves the North American wipes market but it will also have the technological flexibility to meet the demands of other nonwovens markets.

Ahlstrom has become one of the leading suppliers to the wipes market due to the organic growth of its proprietary technologies and the acquisition of Green Bay Nonwovens in 2004. This successful start-up follows the previous on time start-up of a spunlace composites line at Ahlstrom’s Windsor Locks, CT, USA facility. The start-up of the new line allows Ahlstrom to better serve existing and potential customers as well as become more innovative with the strong demand for wipes applications in North America.

"Ahlstrom has again demonstrated its ability to deliver increased wipes capacity and new technology on schedule," says Martin Davis, Vice President & General Manager, Wipes.

In addition to this new line in North America, Ahlstrom recently announced a spunlace nonwoven investment in Brazil, a spunmelt nonwoven investment in the UK and needlepunched nonwoven investments in France and China.

"These investments, totaling over EUR 75 million, demonstrate Ahlstrom’s ability and commitment to expand its nonwovens business globally. Further, the new spunlace line at Green Bay gives us a broader range of products and strengthens our position as a technology leader", comments Claudio Ermondi, Senior Vice President, Nonwovens.

Ahlstrom in brief

Ahlstrom is a global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of high performance fiber-based materials. Nonwovens and specialty papers, made by Ahlstrom, are used in a large variety of everyday products, e.g. in filters, wipes, flooring, labels, and tapes. The company has a strong market position in several business areas in which it operates, built upon the company’s unique fiber expertise and innovative approach. Ahlstrom’s 5,700 employees serve customers via sales offices and production facilities in more than 20 countries on six continents. In 2005, Ahlstrom’s net sales amounted to EUR 1.55 billion. Ahlstrom’s share is listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.

Nonwovens in brief

Ahlstrom’s nonwovens business is ranked among the top 10 manufacturers worldwide and serves customers in the food packaging, medical, wiping, and industrial goods sectors. The Nonwovens business operates from seven principal sites across Europe and the USA and has sales offices worldwide. The Nonwovens business is part of Ahlstrom’s FiberComposites segment which in 2005 had net sales of EUR 742 million and employed 2,898 people.